


When Did It All Go Wrong

by wrldtravler



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: A.R.G.U.S., Exes, F/M, Metahumans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-29
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2020-03-29 12:22:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 35,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19019845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wrldtravler/pseuds/wrldtravler
Summary: After a mission with A.R.G.U.S. goes south, agent Oliver Queen learns something he shouldn't about Director Amanda Waller. Sent on the run when A.R.G.U.S. turns against him, he’s forced to seek out the one person that never wanted to see him again but whom he trusts with his life: his ex, Felicity Smoak. Putting their past behind them, the estranged pair come together along with John Diggle and Lyla Michaels to stop the looming threat. However, the past never stays buried for long. With their renewed connection comes great strength. But where there is strength, there is also great weakness – one that may cost them everything they worked to prevent.





	1. Chapter 1

In. And Out. 

His chest heaved with the calming breath. The one he always takes before the fun really begins. It centers him, like it always does, but it didn’t abate the pre-mission anxiety. Something in his gut refused to settle. This mission should be routine, but there's a tension among the leaders of his group that he tuned into the moment they exited the vans and branched off into their two-man teams as they surrounded the apartment. 

_"Okay, team, be alert."_ Agent Johnson came through over the comms link. _"The target is highly dangerous and should be subdued upon sight. Do not prolong the encounter. Remember neutralize, not kill."_

_"Got it."_ Agent Daniels, of the pair stationed on the roof opposite the target’s apartment, confirmed. 

Oliver turned to his partner for the night, Roy Harper. The kid nodded subtly as they readied their repelling ropes to descend the side of the building. "Copy." Oliver relayed quietly over the comms. 

_"Let's do this. Enter on my signal."_ Johnson readied. 

Oliver and Roy steadied themselves on the edge of the roof. 

In. And out. 

The nerves remained. Oliver couldn't shake the hesitance in Agent Johnson's voice at his warning. But he was a soldier now. He needed to have faith in his team and skills. 

_"Begin."_ Johnson commanded. 

Simultaneously, Oliver and Roy descended, hopping down three floors with trained stealth and precision. Making quick work of breaking the locks, they slipped through the open windows and dispatched of their repelling equipment before bringing their guns to the ready. 

"You A.R.G.U.S. agents were fools to come after me." A male voice called out to them from the shadows of the run-down, darkened apartment. 

Oliver and Roy spun towards the sound, firing low shots into the shadows. The flashes of their guns briefly illuminated the space. 

Oliver thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. There was only one man after the first round of shots. Then, there were two. And then four. Four identical men. 

For the first time since he was a recruit, Oliver froze. They hadn't been briefed on this. Out of the corner of his eye, Harper was just as stunned. 

They barely had time to think before four became eight and the wall of clones came at them. Quickly flipping on the safety, Oliver flipped his gun in his hand, using the butt to quickly stun one of them. He couldn't risk sending off an accidental kill shot in the commotion until he had time to assess the situation and figure out which was the real one. 

He was quickly overwhelmed, though. And Harper looked to be struggling too. Oliver took more hits than he gave. When he knocked one to the ground with a well-placed punch, two more jumped him with renewed gusto. 

Finally, the sound of the front door bursting down as Agent Johnson's team joined them gave Oliver some hope. They could hold out with two agents, but with four this guy didn't stand a chance. 

That hope was quickly dashed. Johnson and his partner had no idea what they walked into, firing off their hand guns at anything that looked like the target. One of the random shots grazed Oliver's thigh, causing him to falter in his defense. "Fuck!" He growled just before a quick series of punches came from the swarm around him, nearly putting him on his knees. 

"Fall back!" Johnson shouted, clearly panicked as he escaped the way he came with his partner. 

Holding his arms up in front of his face, Oliver fended off the continued swarm of punches as he glanced around the room. Chances of his escape looked bleak. Most of the swarm was now concentrated on him, making it difficult to subdue all of them to make a clean escape. 

"Queen!" Harper called out in a panic from the window. 

"Go!" Oliver bellowed without turning to him as he continued to put down as many of the men as possible, not even turning to look and see if he made it out. 

With one final surge of adrenaline, Oliver disabled one assailant, slammed another into the ground, and counter-punched a third to clear a path to the window. Making a break for it, he limped to the window. Just as he placed his hand on the wooden sill, a sharp pain zipped through the back of his head, and everything went black.

* * *

Coming to, Oliver groaned at the dull pain flaring in the back of his head and the throbbing of the open bullet wound on his thigh. When he tried to move, Oliver felt the familiar burn of ropes digging into his wrists. "Shit." 

Now wasn't the time to panic, though. He needed to take stock of his surroundings, wiggle out of the bindings, and find his escape route. 

"Don't bother." A man warned as he stepped into the dim light, the shadows still obscuring most of his face. 

Oliver's wandering eyes focused on him. "Danton Black." He greeted quietly. Maybe it would be useful to hear what the man had to say, and maybe figure out how one man became eight and returned to one. "What's with all of this?" He asked casually, trying to gesture with his bound hands. 

Black huffed out an unamused laugh. "I should be asking you that." He said, his voice taking on a deadly tone. "I'm tired of A.R.G.U.S. capturing my friends, never to hear from them again. And I want you to tell me why." He hissed, leaning in to meet Oliver's eye. 

Oliver studied the man, working to keep his features calm, even a little worried to play along. "What do you mean?" He questioned quickly. "I have no idea who your friends are." He insisted. 

Truthfully, he didn't. He was only told to apprehend the suspect by the name of Danton Black, considered to be highly dangerous. There was no information given about connected missions, background, or what made this man in front of him so dangerous to the point of being feared by his team leader tonight. If he played his cards right, taking the "questioning" into his own hands, he might figure out what had his gut in knots tonight. 

"Don't play dumb, Agent." Black growled, reaching out to grab the collar of Oliver's shirt. "The other Metas. Where are they? Why are you taking them?" He pressed, tugging forcefully on Oliver's shirt. 

Oliver's eyes widened as he studied the man before him. The multiplying now made at least some sense. This was the first Meta he had encountered on a mission, but why had it been a secret? "You know I'll never tell you." He stated calmly, though there was a little remorse in his voice. Shockingly, he wished he had answers for the guy. 

Black stared him down. Clearly frustrated with his answer, he shoved Oliver away with a huff before going to pace the small room. "Fifteen." He said after a while. 

"What?" 

"That's how many Metas A.R.G.U.S. has taken." He revealed. "And you haven't seen any of them?" Black turned on him, his voice broken. 

Oliver reared back, the shock on his face genuine this time. "Fifteen..." He breathed. This went deep. There were fifteen people with powers that had been taken, in secret, by A.R.G.U.S. over the course of who knows how long. And to what end? Oliver considered himself a top agent, someone that went on the top-secret missions and was generally privy to highly classified A.R.G.U.S. information. He'd never heard of A.R.G.U.S. dealing in Metas before tonight. 

"Who do you want to know about?" Oliver offered. 

Black squinted, straightening up a little. "Just like that?" 

Maintaining his gaze, Oliver nodded. 

"Heh, you A.R.G.U.S. agents aren't all you're cracked up to be." Black taunted with a scoff. The bravado faded quickly, a somber mood settling over Black. "Ronnie Raymond. Vincent Sobel. Dinah Drake. Jesse Wells. Cisco Ramon. Just to name a few..." 

Putting on his best thinking face, Oliver took note of that information. Regardless of whatever happened here tonight, he knew he would never forget those names. 

"Well?" Black was impatient. The spark of hope flaring. 

"I'm sorr-" 

A loud cracking noise rang through the apartment as the door gave way under someone's heavy foot. Then, there was a flash, disorienting Oliver despite his best attempts to squint against the light. Even without his vision, his hearing told him exactly what was happening. 

Black had been similarly disoriented by the sudden intrusion, allowing their men to subdue him quickly before he could replicate again. Just as quickly, Oliver's hands were unbound and one his arms slung over a pair of shoulders as the man helped him limp out of the building. It all happened rather quickly too. Between the flash and finally settling into a van, it couldn't have been more than two minutes. Which was just enough time for his vision to return to him and reveal his best friend, John Diggle, seated across from him. 

"Sorry that took so long. We had trouble getting approval." Diggle said, his brows scrunched in thought. 

"I can't imagine why." Oliver replied dryly. Waller's hesitance to send for him didn't sit well with him, mostly because it seemed too accurate given what he learned in the last thirty minutes. 

Coming out of his own head, Dig finally took a good look at Oliver. "You good, man?" He asked, pausing on the blood staining his pant leg. 

Oliver shrugged. "It's nothing concerning. Just a clip." 

"Waller wants to see you as soon as you're done with med." Diggle warned. 

His breath hitched briefly, earning a look from Dig. Looking around, Oliver spotted the drivers through the window and shook his head. "I'm sure it's nothing." Oliver offered, but held Dig's eye. 

Pinching his lips together, Dig nodded. "Be careful." He explained quietly just as the van began to slow upon their arrival to base. 

Acknowledging his friend's quiet concern with a single nod, they hauled out of the van, going their separate ways for the time-being. 

Unfortunately, it didn't take long for Oliver to be seated in a de-briefing room. The med team seemed to clean and stitch his wound in a flash before he was ushered down the hall to a sterile room fitted with only a table and two chairs. Waller wasn't wasting any time. 

"Queen." She greeted brusquely as she whisked into the room, equipped with only a tablet. "Glad you made it out." 

He had to swallow the scoff threatening to spill from his lips. "Thank you for the extraction, but I had it handled." 

"No doubt." She brushed off. 

Silence surrounded them after that, only punctuated by the soft tapping of Waller's fingers over the tablet. She wasn’t in any rush to speak to him. Almost like she was purposefully prolonging the "de-briefing" to agitate him. 

And it worked. "What happened to Black?" 

"He is in custody." Waller offered, still glued to her tablet. 

"Don't you want to know what happened?" Oliver questioned, shifting in his seat. 

A thin grin curled Waller's lips, but still no eye-contact. "I don't think that's necessary. I have plenty from your fellow agents." 

He had enough of this. "Why are we here then?" Oliver ground out. 

Looking up from the tablet, finally, Waller's cool eyes met his. "We're here, Mr. Queen, because I want to make sure we're all on the same team." 

Sitting forward, Oliver folded his hands together on the cool metal of the table and peered at Waller with the slightest tilt of his head. "I don't see why that's necessary. My loyalties have never been an issue before." 

Waller didn't flinch. Not a single muscle in her face moved. "How long have you been with us?" 

Oliver quirked a brow at her. "Five years." 

"Yes." She confirmed, as if that was redundant information. "And you've quickly become an invaluable asset to the agency. You came to us with a mission for vengeance, and you are still young and hot-headed. I don't want to see you get into something stupid and ruin your potential." She urged, never wavering from his gaze. 

"And what gave you that idea?" He pressed. 

Finally, Waller grinned. And it terrified him. "There are things that go on in the world, Mr. Queen, that normal people can't even begin to imagine. Threats out there that small minds would never dream are real. But those threats still exist. A.R.G.U.S. must keep the public from ever learning the truth. Sometimes, that's by any means possible." She explained. The calmness of her voice was unsettling. Like she really believed she did good for the world. "Because of the nature of our work, we don't have time to squabble amongst ourselves. We must trust in the mission and each other. Do you understand?" 

Leaning back and crossing his arms over his chest, Oliver observed Waller. "I do." 

Waller's grin widened as she abruptly rose from her seat, tablet in hand. "Good." She said, spinning to leave the room. "If I didn't make it clear, I suggest you don't go after things that don't concern you, Mr. Queen. It would be a true shame to lose such a talented agent." She called casually over her shoulder, breezing out of the room as quickly as she entered. 

Unfortunately, Waller was about to learn that, not only is he hot-headed, he is a terrible listener too.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for such an enthusiastic response to the first chapter! Sorry (not sorry) for how this ends ;)

Gripping the knot of his tie, Oliver straightened it with a gentle wiggle and then smoothed the material down against his chest. The final touch was running his fingers through his hair, making sure the locks were tousled just right. Pasting on his signature, charming smile, he knocked gently on the door before him. 

A soft feminine voice called for him to enter. 

"Hey there, Allie." Oliver grinned as he strode in. 

"O-Oliver. Hi." The poor girl stuttered, perking up and shifting in her seat. 

"Hey. I'm looking for some information, and I was hoping you could help me." He said a little too sweetly, coming around to sit on the edge of her desk. 

She nervously tugged a strand of brunette hair behind her ear. "Of course." She blurted, followed by a shy giggle as she stared up at him in awe. 

"I'm looking for some medical records on a few of our inmates. Waller put me on a _special_ case, and I just want to do a good job. You understand, right?" Who better than the second-in-charge of the med team to help him. 

"Yes! Yes, of course!" She nodded eagerly. "You came to the right person." 

"I knew I could count on you." He grinned, giving her a subtle wink. "Can you get me copies of the records for Ronnie Raymond, Vincent Sobel, Dinah Drake, Jessie Wells, and a Cisco Ramon?" 

"Right away!" Without hesitation, Allie turned to her computer and entered the first name in the search bar as soon as she pulled up the database. 

A loud, disgruntled noise came from the computer as soon as she hit enter, along with a pop-up. 'CLASSIFIED.' 

Allie frowned. Entering the second name, the same noise and warning accompanied the search. Same with the third, fourth, and fifth attempts. "Oliver..." She started, glancing up to him warily. 

"Please." He begged with his best puppy-dog eyes. "I don't think my clearance went through yet, but is there any way you have other copies of those records. This is very time sensitive. It could save lives." 

Her worried gaze wavered, flickering away from his eyes in a moment of weakness. Taking her lip between her teeth, the young girl returned to the computer. Entering Ronnie Raymond's name again, the same warning popped up, but this time she input a clearance code. 

The moment the file opened, Oliver only got a quick glance at the information before she downloaded it to a driver and moved on. Her fingers worked frantically over the keyboard and her eyes flickered to the door frequently as she attempted to complete her task. In no time, a flash drive was being shoved into his hands. "Please, don't mention this to anyone." She whispered. 

Slipping the valuable object into his breast pocket, Oliver nodded solemnly. "Don't worry, I won't. This is secret safe between us." He assured. "Thank you, really." He offered with a sweet smile. It wasn't enough, compared to the risk they were both taking, but he would make sure she escaped punishment should her role be revealed. 

Slipping off the edge of her desk, he quietly slipped out of the room. "See you around, Allie." He called on his way out, a little loudly so anyone nearby might think it was a normal visit.

* * *

Oliver had waited until he got home to access the information on the drive. As anxious as he was to learn more about the captive Metas, he wasn't stupid. By pulling up the files while on A.R.G.U.S.'s network, he would have given them a trail leading right to him. 

He thought he expected the worst, but the information on the drive shook him to his core. And it still weighed on his mind, well into the evening during his routine training session the next day. No wonder Waller sent him a direct warning a few days ago. 

It tugged at his morals, weighing on him. His brain turned the information over constantly. The decision was clear for him, though. Executing his plan, on the other hand, might cost him everything he worked for – the life he rebuilt for himself with five years of hard work. 

Blocking one punch from his sparring partner, Oliver's thoughts distracted him, slowing his reflexes to the foot swiping at his ankles. Next thing he knew, he was flat on his back, his breath leaving him. 

"QUEEN!" 

Scrambling to his feet, his eyes found Agent Slade Wilson, readied in full combat gear standing just inside the training space. "Sir?" 

"Get your gear. Williams had to pull out for our mission, so you've just been assigned to take his place. Be in the van in 10. You'll be briefed on the way." Slade informed. With a quick nod, Johnson disappeared and Oliver rushed from the training area. 

Slade gave him ten minutes; Oliver was sliding onto the cool metal seats in the back of the van in under eight minutes. 

Glancing to his left, he found himself surrounded by six other agents. His brows scrunched briefly. They all had their masks on. Only Slade positioned across from him remained uncovered. 

"No need to stress tonight, kid. This is a simple scouting mission. We're going to investigate a warehouse at the edge of the Glades. We believe the Quadrant is operating out of the space. Satellite evidence indicates it is empty tonight, so we're going in to get evidence before we risk making a move on such a powerful organization. You'll be paired with me tonight, but we'll all enter together from the rear of the building." Slade relayed as he pulled on his balaclava and tactical helmet. "Clear?" 

Oliver nodded along, quietly taking in the information given. Seemed routine. But, again, he couldn't shake his gut feeling as he donned his own headgear. "Copy." 

Moments later, after a quiet rest of the journey, the van came to a halt and the group piled out quickly. Oliver stayed close to Slade, gun raised and at the ready just in case. They could never be too careful, especially when it comes to the Quadrant. In the quiet of the Glades at night, the soft thump of eight pairs of boots and the rustling of their clothes seemed to dominate their surroundings as they made their way to the entry point. 

On approach, Slade lifted a fisted hand to halt their movement. The men behind them fanned out in the standard protective formation. After a quick glance behind him, Slade waved the team forward. Cutting the lock on the door, Oliver and Slade filed in first, heading forward to check out the center of the space. The remaining three pairs fanned off left, right, and the final lingered to check near the entry point. 

Never straying more than two feet from Slade, Oliver tip-toed around the space, swiveling his gaze around for any evidence. It was weird, though. So far, it looked like nothing more than a run-down warehouse. There were a few boxes and items strewn about, but nothing that looked like a sophisticated Quadrant operation was run from the space. 

"Slade..." He turned to look for his team leader, and froze. 

Raising his gun quickly, Oliver tensed at the sight of seven similar guns pointed at him, surrounding him on all sides. 

He was cornered. 

"Waller warned you, kid." Came Slade's gruff voice from the darkness. 

"You know." Oliver stated, barely shifting his eyes away from the whole group to find Slade. 

"What I do or don't know doesn't matter. You pose a threat to the organization, and you know the policy." He replied, surprisingly diplomatically for a man many feared. 

His trigger finger tensed. "I won't let you stop me." Oliver growled back, his mind working over-time to figure out his escape plan. 

"I'm sorry, kid." Slade offered, but it lacked true sympathy. 

Oliver wouldn't wait any longer. If he was going to even have a chance of escaping, he had to make the first move. They were too close for him to avoid a bullet if they fired first. So, he charged forward, limiting their range and forcing their hand. 

Several of them still tried to fire off shots, but the bullets were lost in the commotion as he tried to neutralize the gunmen. One of them grazed his arm, momentarily throwing him off balance, but most of the bullets either flew away harmlessly or ended up in the other men – mostly by Oliver's design. 

Despite the blood trailing down his arm making it difficult to get a good grip on anything with his left hand, Oliver managed to neutralize four of the seven within minutes. Grabbing onto an incoming hand, Oliver turned the poor guy's arm and dropped him to the ground. Extending a leg at the same time, Oliver buckled the knee of another. Spinning around, Oliver trained his gun on Slade's head. 

"You can't win." Slade laughed from behind the safety of his own extended gun. 

"Try me." Oliver taunted, taking a quick shot at Slade's leg, sending him to his knees with a groan. It wasn't meant to kill, just be enough of a distraction to buy himself some time as he took off. 

Stumbling through the ill-placed debris, Oliver burst through the closest door moments later into the cool night air. Immediately out of the building, he cut left. Pumping his arms frantically, he ran with all the power he could muster. If he could just make it to the alley way... 

One loud bang. Then, searing pain burst through his left shoulder, sending him skidding to the ground face-first as his step faltered. 

"Ahh!" He roared, pain flaring down his arm while rolling over to try and stand up. 

A boot halted his attempt, pressing into the fresh wound and pinning him to the ground. "Fuck... you... Slade." Oliver ground out through clenched teeth, breathing heavily through his nostrils as he fought to stay conscious against the white-hot pain. 

"You've got spunk. But you overestimate your skills." Slade laughed, pressing into the wound a little more. 

Arching off the ground, Oliver groaned. "No..." He said through his teeth. "You underestimate them." 

Oliver raised a hand gun, fished from his side, and took a quick shot at the over-confident man above him. 

Slade roared, stumbling backwards and clutching his eye. Not waiting around to see the aftermath, Oliver hauled himself from the ground and ran. He ran as fast as he could, without looking back, until he was sure he was far enough away and that he had really lost them and the moment his blood loss from both wounds became too great. 

Leaning against the brick wall of the alley, he only planned on pausing but soon found himself sliding down the ragged wall to the dirty pavement. 

His breathing had become shallow. His head lolled to the side as he fought consciousness. And his eyes struggled to retain focus. 

What would it say if he had managed to escape, only to die in an alley only minutes later? 

He hadn't thought past escaping. He didn't imagine getting this far. Now came the harsh reality. 

He's now a wanted man. Home isn't an option. No doubt, once word of his escape reaches them, A.R.G.U.S. will have agents surrounding the place should he think to go there. Same goes for any other place he might try to hide within Starling City. Which are few and far between these days. 

As the blood continued to soak his shirt, he knew he needed to move. 

With a few fast, preparatory breaths, Oliver pushed his back against the wall and shoved himself to his feet with a strained groan. As soon as he was standing, the blinding pain in his shoulder threatened to send him to his knees again with the urge to vomit this time, so he leaned against the wall and let it pass. 

Blindly, Oliver pushed himself away from the wall. He stumbled down the maze of alley ways until the sights looked familiar through his blurred vision. 

When he finally managed to determine which building he needed, it took everything he had to drag himself up the fire escape and climb four stories. His chest heaved with increasingly shallow breaths as he pulled himself up onto the edge of the fire escape landing. He swayed, but didn't pause before jumping the small gap to the large balcony. 

As if knowing he was home, that he was safe and the fight was over, he didn't bother landing on his feet. Rather, he stumbled forward, collapsing in a heap with a relieved sigh as he gave himself to the exhaustion that had been tugging at his consciousness.


	3. Chapter 3

When he finally stirred, he was more than disoriented. His vision was momentarily blurred, not to mention sensitive to even the soft light that greeted him. There were no sounds of monitors or bustling people. It was suspiciously silent. 

Starting to shift, a dull throbbing emanated from his shoulder. The events leading to the source of the pain came back to him. His eyes flew open, frantically scanning the room for any signs of a threat. When he realized he wasn’t in immediate danger, he took his time to assess the damage. 

Glancing down, a big white bandage now covered his left shoulder and gauze encircled his forearm, covering the cut he received from the bullet that grazed him. Not only that, he was shirtless – no doubt so whomever had cared for his wounds could access them – and covered by a thick blanket. 

Lifting his eyes, satisfied that his injuries didn’t need immediate care, he took more time to observe the space around him. The open floor plan meant he was in a loft. A very familiar looking loft. It was clean, warm, and certainly didn’t give off a threatening vibe. Continuing his perusal, he swung his eyes to his left and froze. 

Blonde hair. It was tied up into a short pony tail, though lots of strands had escaped, framing her like a frizzy halo. Her face was buried in her hands. Elbows covered by a maroon hoodie rested on flannel panda pajama pants. There was no mistaking who sat hunched over on the coffee table beside him, surrounded by bloody gauze and towels. 

“Felicity.” He breathed, trying to sit up. The dull throb turned into a searing pain when he put weight on his left arm, forcing him back onto the couch with a hiss. 

Her head flew up from her hands at the sudden noises, but the look on her face was less than welcoming. In fact, there was almost no emotion at all. 

“Five years.” Those first words were barely above a whisper. “Nobody has seen or heard from you in five years and suddenly you show up, bleeding out on my balcony.” Her voice rose with every word, and so did the bitterness. 

Truthfully, Oliver wasn’t sure how he ended up here. Last thing he remembered was nearly passing out in an alley after finally losing Slade and the other A.R.G.U.S. agents. “Felicity, I-” 

“Do you know how difficult it is to get blood out of a carpet?!” She interrupted. Without giving him time to answer, she rose from her perch with a huff. She paced back and forth in front of him five times. He had counted. When she reached the opposite side of the couch on that fifth lap, she spun around and pinned her angry gaze on him. “Why did you come here?” 

He watched her for a moment. When it became clear that she was waiting for him to speak this time, he took a deep breath and heaved himself into a seated position using his good arm, only managing a small groan from pain this time. “I-I don’t know.” He admitted, still perplexed by his own thought process leading to this moment. “You’re the only person I can trust right now, so maybe...” 

Felicity laughed. It was a singular bark of laughter and she looked anything but amused. Shaking her head at him, her indignation faded into hurt. “That’s rich.” She whispered, crossing her arms tightly over her chest. 

Given her ire, he shouldn’t have done what he did next, but he couldn’t help it. His gaze swept over her, noting everything from the familiar panda pajama pants to that little line between her brows he knew so well. The longing hit him hard, making his breath catch. “It’s true, Felicity. That never changed.” He tried. 

Her gaze turned hard. “Oh, you’re finally ready to get into this? Now?” She challenged. 

Oliver reared back. Seeing her now, so close yet so far, opened the wound he thought had healed. He started to speak, but his voice wavered and his face contorted in pain. “You left.” He finally croaked out. 

“No! You don’t get to do that.” She shot back quickly. “ _You_ left far before that.” She insisted, swiping at her eyes against the hot tears welling in them. 

Instantly, Oliver lifted his hand to reach out for her. Felicity shied away, despite the fact that she was already well out of his reach. His hand remained suspended between them for a moment. And her eyes lingered on it. The hurt was still so raw between them both, even now, but that didn’t mean he wanted to see her like this. He would give anything to take that away, especially knowing he was the cause of her pain, but that wasn’t an option that was open to him anymore. Pinching his lips together, he retracted his hand, letting it rest harmlessly in his lap. 

In the silence surrounding them, it was impossible not to hear the soft exhale following the movement. Turning her head away from him, towards the kitchen, she started in that direction after a moment of thought. 

Unwilling to remove his gaze from her just yet, for fear of this all being some sick dream, his eyes followed her around the space that he was once so intimately familiar with. 

She paused at the cabinets above the sink to grab a glass, having to push onto her tip toes to do so. Padding back towards him, she stopped at the fridge to fill the glass with water. Spinning around to the island, she dug into one of the drawers for her stash of aspirin. After fetching what she needed from the bottle, his eyes followed her as she came back to him, setting the water and three aspirin down on the coffee table near him before sitting in a chair a good distance from him. 

His lips quirked up into a small smile for her. “Thank you.” Spinning gingerly to place his feet on the ground, he reached out for the gift, downing the aspirin and half of the tall glass of water in seconds. 

“What happened?” 

He glanced up. She had curled her small figure into the chair. Her concerned eyes lingered over the wounds on his left side. Glancing down, he followed her gaze and observed the wounds contemplatively. Scrunching his brows together, he lifted his eyes to meet her gaze. “Have you heard of A.R.G.U.S.?” 

She didn’t conceal her shock well. 

His frown deepened. “So, you know about them?” 

Felicity curled her lower lip between her teeth, dropping her eyes to her fingers as she fiddled with the cuffs on her sweatshirt. “I never told you about the time I stumbled across their system our senior year in college.” She shrugged, but the hints of a small smile curled her lips. “They actually contacted me after that. Offered me a job. Clearly, I said no.” 

“Good.” He threw out bitterly. Someone as good as Felicity didn’t belong in the clutches of someone like Amanda Waller. 

Her gaze lifted to his again, paired with a curious brow. 

“They're not as good as they believe themselves to be.” 

The curious brow remained quirked at him, silently urging him to continue. 

A deep sigh heaved his chest. “I work- uh, used to work for A.R.G.U.S,” he answered. “A few days ago, I discovered something I shouldn’t have while out on a mission. Because I couldn’t just ignore what I found out, A.R.G.U.S. tried to kill me last night to keep it quiet.” He laughed, a hollow laugh, as he gestured at his shoulder. 

A thought hit him. Digging into his pants, the tips of his fingers brushed hard plastic, and a relieved sigh slipped from his lips. Fishing it out, Oliver gently placed the small flash drive on the corner of the coffee table separating them. “This is all the information I managed to gather.” He explained as Felicity picked up the drive and turned it over in her fingers. 

He expected her, with her insatiably curious mind, to immediately rush for her tablet to investigate the contents of the drive. Instead, she surprised him by turning her curious, even slightly frustrated, gaze to him again. “You’ve been with A.R.G.U.S.? In Starling? All this time?” 

Crinkling his brows, he eventually nodded. “I wasn’t always in Starling, but yeah.” 

Felicity hummed softly, studying him for another moment. Finally, she sighed softly as she rose to fetch her tablet from the dining room table, plugging in the flash drive as she curled herself into the chair again. 

Oliver watched her closely as she pulled up the files. Her brows creased, eyes moving quickly over the information. Occasionally, her fingers swiped across the screen. With each movement her frown deepened. “What is this?” She breathed.

“Torture.” He stated. “A.R.G.U.S. kidnapped these innocent Metahumans, tortured them to draw out their powers, and studied the corresponding genetic mutation. All in the name of building a set of super agents to protect the world.” He threw out, the disgust clear in his words. “I was sent on a mission a few days ago to capture another Meta, not knowing that this was the end goal.” 

“H-how?” She stuttered, eyes warily glancing back down to the information on her tablet. 

Pinching his lips together, Oliver shrugged. “I think they’re creating a serum. I don’t have that data because I only asked for the files on the Metas, but some of the researchers in the videos mention it. I would assume it’s meant to transfer certain Meta powers to normal humans.” 

An audible gulp from Felicity echoed across the silence between them. “I can’t believe I considered working for these monsters.” Slowly, she tore her eyes away from the screen and back to him. “What are you going to do?” 

Sighing, he gently slumped himself against the back of the couch. “I don’t know.” He started, staring emptily at the fireplace across the room from him. “The agency is no doubt still looking for me to eliminate the threat to their establishment. I don’t know how yet, but I can’t let this continue. They have to be stopped.” 

“I’ll help.” 

“Felicity, I don’t deserve to ask this of you... I know you hate me- wait, what?” He continued, nearly missing her offer while lost in his racing thoughts. “You’ll help me?” He swung his surprised gaze to her. 

She rolled her eyes. “I see you still don’t like listening to me.” To Oliver, it almost sounded like teasing, further adding to his surprise. “Yes. I believe that’s what I said.” She added when the hopeful but unsure look on his face didn't change. 

“Why?” He stuttered out quickly, but quickly lifted his hands in front of him in an innocent gesture. “No. Wait. That’s not what I meant! I mean- I thought I was going to have to beg. Which I was prepared to do, but-” 

Sighing, Felicity gave him a pitying look. “Oliver, stop. I’m the only one allowed to speak in sentence fragments between the two of us.” She interrupted. “Trust me when I genuinely say I want to help.” 

Oliver held her gaze. “I do trust you.” His voice was soft, but he made sure to speak every word with conviction, reiterating the sentiment he spoke aloud earlier. “You’ve always had a good heart.” 

Felicity tried to hold his gaze but caved under the weight eventually and had to glance away. 

Clearing his throat, Oliver rubbed the back of his head. “Thank you for cleaning me up.” 

A noticeable shiver passed through Felicity. “Don’t mention it.” She said, scrunching her face in disgust. “You probably still need to get it looked at, though. Google is only so helpful when you ask it how to treat bullet wounds.” 

He actually laughed. A genuine laugh that crinkled his eyes and tugged at the hidden stiches under the bandage on his shoulder as his chest heaved. “Thanks for the heads up. I’ll have a friend look at it.” 

His assurance didn’t work. Felicity’s brows tugged together as she shot his wound a worried glance. 

“Even public hospitals won’t be safe for me right now. The moment I check in, A.R.G.U.S. will know.” He explained. “My friend is not only trustworthy, but he has some medical training from his army days.” 

Something about that only seemed to worry Felicity more. 

Curling her lips together, the thinking crease formed quickly as the set of her brows deepened. “You can’t go home.” It was somehow both a question and a statement. 

Pinching his own lips together, Oliver shook his head. “No.” 

“Stay here tonight.” 

“Felicity, no. I can’t ask that of you.” 

“You’re not asking. I’m insisting.” Her words were firm. They matched her unwavering gaze. “Even though we might be less than friends at the moment, that doesn’t mean I’m going to send you out to your death. Those injuries are still fresh too, and I wouldn’t completely trust my doctoring skills. I would feel better if you were here, some place A.R.G.U.S. won’t think to look, and with someone watching over you in case the injuries turn septic.” 

“Thank you.” For the first time tonight, he wasn’t going to continue to question her generosity. Every point she made was true and, of course, her logic was flawless. He was in no condition to move to Dig’s just yet, and it was probably wise for him to lay low for a few more hours. 

The tiniest smile flashed over her lips. Standing, Felicity padded over to the large stairs right next to the front door. Pausing at the foot, she turned back, mouth parted with unspoken words on the tip of her tongue. She closed it seconds later, folding her lips together instead. “Good night, Oliver.” Were the words she finally settled on moments later before disappearing up the stairs. 

With a sigh, Oliver finished off the glass of water from earlier, then hauled himself into the kitchen and over to the sink to refill it and fetch himself a few more aspirin – he would most definitely need more soon. Returning to the couch, he settled in for the night, just in time because the exhaustion was quickly overtaking him. 

“Good night, Felicity.” He uttered the words just loud enough, knowing they would carry through the intense quiet permeating the loft, up to where she lay, on a bed that was once theirs, far from being able to fall back asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I'm so thrilled you all are enjoying this so far. I just wanted to warn you guys that another update might take awhile. Thankfully, this chapter doesn't end on a cliffhanger ;) I'm going out of the country for eight days, so I'm not sure how much time/internet access I'll have to post next week. If that's the case, I'll bless you all with two chapters the week after!
> 
> Enjoy :)

Oliver woke up early the next morning to fresh pain throbbing in his left shoulder. Rolling into a sitting position, he fetched the aspirin he had the foresight to prepare for this exact moment and downed them along with most of the glass of water. 

Curiously, peeling back the bandage on his forearm, he frowned. Even that small of a wound didn’t look too good, so no doubt the through-and-through wound on his shoulder needed care too. Lifting himself from the couch, he padded over to the guest bathroom located behind the stairs leading up to the lofted space. Riding himself of the bandage on the back of his shoulder, he turned to examine it in the mirror. A quiet curse slipped from his lips. It was beginning to look red around the edges and there was some fresh blood on the bandage. Removing the front bandage, that side fared only a bit better. 

Slipping out of the bathroom, he tossed the old bandages in the kitchen trash and washed his hands. Taking a moment to start up a pot of coffee, he set about raiding the cabinets, grabbing the materials Felicity must have used to clean him up last night as well as finding her sewing kit and a lighter. It wasn’t ideal, but it would last him until he and Felicity could get to Dig’s later. 

Laying out the materials on the large island, Oliver stopped to grab his coffee that had just finished brewing. Just as he reached into the cabinet to grab a mug, his ears picked up on Felicity’s bare feet plodding down the stairs. 

A sharp gasp and squeak greeted his ears. From the corner of his eye he caught her spinning out of view behind a slim wall shielding the front door from the kitchen. Oliver had to really work to suppress his chuckle. 

“Morning.” 

Shyly, Felicity reappeared from behind the wall, arms clutched in front of her chest. The adorable panda pants still adorned her legs, but the sweatshirt had been removed to reveal a thin tank top, and her hair was down now, looking quite rumpled from sleep still. “Uh, morning.” 

She staunchly refused to look in his direction. 

“Did you forget?” He asked, fighting against the twitch of his lips. 

With a shrug, Felicity nervously brushed at her hair, but made sure to keep her arms folded over her chest. “You know how I am in the morning.” 

Oh yes, that was certainly true. His mind could conjure the many different Morning Felicity’s he knew, but most of all he knew she was absolutely useless before her first cup of coffee. “Sorry if I scared you.” 

Quickly shaking her head, her eyes briefly flashed to him before pretending to observe the gloomy skies out of the large windows. “No, it’s- I’m just going to clean up... really quick.” She rushed out, already spinning on her heels and hurrying back up the stairs. 

Now that she was finally out of earshot, the chuckle he had been holding in the whole time quietly slipped from his lips. With an amused shake of his head, he turned back to the task at hand and poured himself a hefty cup of black coffee. Pausing, he folded his lips together, spent just a few seconds in thought, and then grabbed another mug. Filling it most of the way and prepping the coffee the way he remembered, he walked both mugs to the island, placing hers towards the edge before taking his seat further down where he had his supplies arranged. 

Taking only a moment to quickly gulp down a hefty amount of his black coffee, Oliver set to work cleaning his wounds. Starting with the smaller graze. 

It was a mechanical process for him by now. Pour alcohol on the gauze. Gently blot the wound. Repeat if necessary. Disinfect the sewing needle with the lighter. Carefully thread it. Grit your teeth. And stitch. 

Five minutes later, he knotted off that set of stitches and clipped the edges. Trashing the excess thread, he cleaned the needle with some alcohol before setting it aside to move onto the bigger wound. 

Mid-way through stitching up the wound on the front of his chest, after thoroughly cleaning it, a different gasp pulled him from his focused thoughts. Pausing his stitch, Oliver glanced over his shoulder. 

Unlike earlier, Felicity couldn’t stop staring now. Her eyes moved constantly over his back, no doubt noting every scar littering his skin that hadn’t been there before. 

Cringing and shying away from the pity he expected in her eyes, Oliver turned back to his task. “There’s coffee for you. I’ll be done in a minute.” 

No response came. 

As he was tying up the last stitches on that side of the bullet wound, he stiffened when her warm breath ghosted over his neck. He might have imagined the touch of her fingertips on his skin, her touch was so light and gone before he knew it, but if she had touched him it was anything but malicious or disgusted. 

“I’m sorry you had to see them.” He explained, keeping his back towards her as he placed the needle on the counter. 

“No.” She bit out suddenly. It wasn’t mean, but just her way of telling him shut those thoughts down. He would laugh, if the situation weren’t so tense, at how well she still knew him too. 

Her presence behind him faded only for her to reappear in front, coffee in hand now. What he found, when he finally looked at her, wasn’t the pity he expected but genuine sadness as she inspected the smattering of old wounds on his torso. And maybe a little anger too. “How did I miss this last night?” 

Distracting himself by cleaning the needle and prepping some more gauze to get started on the wound on the back of his shoulder, a dry chuckle slipped from his lips. “Well, easily. Given your ex, who disappeared five years ago, showed up near death.” 

Felicity only pinched her lips together with a frustrated huff. 

Quiet settled over them after that. As Oliver awkwardly stretched his right arm across his body to clean the final wound needing care, Felicity absent-mindedly sipped at her coffee and observed him. Tossing the dirty gauze aside, he prepped one final needle with some thread and clumsily started the first stitch over his shoulder. 

Too focused on the difficult task at hand, he didn’t notice she had moved until one of her hands came into view. It shook, and hesitated just above his bare skin, but her touch was firm when she finally pressed the tips of her fingers against his hand holding the thread. “Let me.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. 

Looking up, he met her eye over his shoulder. “You hate needles.” He commented. 

“Just-” She paused to gulp as she slipped the needle from his pliant fingers, “just walk me through it.” Dropping her concentrated gaze to the wound, still her fingers refused to shake. 

Watching her for a moment, he finally nodded. “Okay. It’s only going to need five stitches, and I’ve done the first one which is the hardest part.” He explained, keeping his voice calm and level. “What I need you to do is move it diagonally to the right, thread it from inside to outside, and then thread it outside to inside directly across from that stitch. You’ll need to press the wound together too, so the stitches don’t tug.” 

Felicity took a deep breath and lined up the needle to make the first stitch from inside to out like he instructed. “Good. Good spacing.” Oliver affirmed as she made the first stitch. Surprisingly, Felicity breezed through the task after that with Oliver’s quiet voice guiding her the entire way. Just as shockingly, there wasn’t a single word or sound from Felicity the entire time. Likely, all of her focus and attention went to the task at hand, and probably a bit of extra emphasis on not thinking about the needle. 

The moment she made the last stitch, tied it off per Oliver’s explanation, and snipped the excess thread, she flung the remains on the counter and rushed to the sink – far away from the needle – to thoroughly scrub her hands clean. 

Giving her space, Oliver cleaned up in the meantime, tossing the contaminated, disposable materials and sterilizing the space. “Thank you.” He said, leaning against the side of the island facing Felicity once he finished up. 

Turning with a drying towel in hand, Felicity shivered noticeably. “Please, never mention that again. It took everything I had not to puke on you.” She shook her head vehemently with those words, trying to banish the images from her brain. 

Stepping up next to her to wash his own hands, he offered her a small laugh. “Well, I doubt you’ll have to do it again, so consider it forgotten.” Turning towards her, he blindly grabbed the towel she offered from her hands to dry his own. 

His sad attempt at humor didn’t comfort Felicity, at all. For a moment, they shared a long look. Felicity’s lips were pursed and that little crinkle marred her brow. Whatever she had on her mind, it never surfaced. Eventually, instead, she physically shook those thoughts away. “I forgot... I have something for you.” Breaking the eye contact, Felicity made to disappear upstairs again. 

It didn’t take long for her to reappear, joining him where he now sat at the island, quietly sipping his coffee. Without saying anything, she shoved something into his arms and laid out the other items on the granite surface. 

Blinking, Oliver held it up and paused. It was his old, worn Starling City Rockets baseball shirt. Lifting his tentative gaze to her, she once more avoided him by fiddling with her tablet and the phone she had also brought with her. “What’s with the gadgets?” He prompted, pulling the shirt over his head. It was a little tighter now – he had been leaner the last time he saw it -, but it didn’t smell musty like he expected. 

“While trying to fall asleep last night, I realized you need a new phone. If we’re going to work together, we need to communicate, and I didn’t find a phone on you last night. I had this lying around.” She picked up the spare phone, waving it in front of him. “I’m setting it up so the signal pings off multiple towers, that way the phone will be difficult to track should anyone discover you.” 

Shaking his head, Oliver looked between her and the phone. “You’re remarkable.” 

Her fingers slowed over the tablet. A tiny smile graced her lips briefly before she resumed her work. “Thank you for remarking on it.” Just a few more taps on her tablet and she unplugged the phone, setting it in front of him. “This should be good for now. Once we have more of a game plan, we can determine what else I need to get so we can stop those monsters.” 

Turning the phone over in his hands a few times, Oliver lifted his gaze to hers, offering her a small but genuine smile. “Thank you. Again. For probably the hundredth time since my delirious brain decided it was smart to heave my dumbass onto your balcony last night.” 

Waving him off, she reached for the remains of her coffee nearby. “Just remember I have a front door and don’t show up bleeding next time, and we’ll call it even.” 

Oliver’s smile widened. “Deal.” 

By next time she likely meant that he would be coming back here since they were temporarily working together again, but even the tiny promise in the unflinching way she threw out the words excited him. 

Clearing her throat, Felicity broke the briefly awkward silence. “So... where do we start?” 

“We need to get to my friend, John Diggle. And his wife Lyla. They both work with me at A.R.G.U.S. I trust them with my life, and we’re going to need people on the inside.” 

She hummed quietly, slowly nodding her head. “Will we be safe if we take my car?” 

Puckering his lips briefly, Oliver eventually nodded. “Should be. We would know if A.R.G.U.S. tracked me here. So, we shouldn’t be spotted.” 

“Good, good.” She murmured, slipping off her stool and picking up Oliver’s discarded, empty coffee cup to deposit in the sink with her own. “Let me just get ready and we can go. No sense in wasting time.” 

“Perfect. Last thing I’ll ask of you, promise, but do you have a hat I can borrow?”

* * *

Tugging the borrowed black baseball cap down to shield his eyes, Oliver opened the passenger door of Felicity’s tiny Mini Cooper. “Okay, let’s go. I don’t see any signs of A.R.G.U.S. surveillance.” He whispered as he threw himself out of the car. 

Looking both ways, Oliver waited just long enough for Felicity to appear in his peripherals before taking off. Crossing the street in long strides, he headed straight for an immaculate wood fence enclosing a big, beautiful lawn. 

“Oliver? Where are we going?” She asked when he stopped right next to the fence. 

“Right here.” He sighed. “This is their house, but we’re going to climb the fence and go to their back door.” He stated like it was obvious. 

Stepping into his personal space, Felicity huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. “This is just ridiculous. I am not climbing a fence. And, I thought you said it didn’t look like A.R.G.U.S. was watching the house.” Her voice rose with every word. 

“Fe-li-ci-ty.” He pleaded in a harsh whisper. Looking around nervously for a moment, he only met her gaze again from under the bill of the cap when he was satisfied with his search. “I don’t see any signs, but we can’t risk that they’re watching the front door.” 

“And what? You’re just going to heave me over with your bum shoulder and tear the stitches?” She retorted, lowering her voice to match his. 

“Exactly.” He said excitedly, kneeling down and cupping his hands together for a make-shift foothold. 

Resting her hands on her hips, Felicity challenged him with a glare. When he didn’t budge, Felicity huffed. “You’re incorrigible.” Turning she planted one foot in his hands and reached up to grasp the edge of the fence. 

Starting to lift with his legs, Felicity wobbled briefly, but he held on tight and continued to press her up. “I’ve got you.” He assured softly, firmly holding her foot until he was sure she could make it the rest of the way. 

When the soft thump of her landing on the other side met his ears, Oliver grasped the ledge himself to pull himself over. The first motion of pulling himself up tugged painfully at the make-shift stitches, ripping a string of quiet curses from his lips as he hauled himself the rest of the way over the fence to join Felicity. 

“So, Mr. Tough Guy, how’d that go for you?” She jested, crossing her arms over her chest with a knowing smirk. 

Pinching his lips together into a thin line, Oliver threw her a half-hearted glare. “Just as I planned.” He retorted, taking off for the sliding glass door attached to a large open, wood deck with Felicity hot on his heels. 

Giving it a rapid knock, Oliver kept his head down while he and Felicity waited, with Felicity standing a little behind him shifting nervously on her feet. 

Suddenly, the door was ripped open. “Oliver. Holy shit, man. I thought you were dead.” Diggle said quickly and quietly, his eyes rapidly scanning their surroundings and then Oliver for any obvious signs of danger. 

“Welcome to the club.” Felicity muttered, earning a curious look from Diggle and a slightly more exasperated one from Oliver. 

“Nope. Very much alive.” Oliver assured with a shrug. “Can we come in?” 

“Yeah, yeah. Lyla’s in the living room with Sara.” Diggle explained, stepping aside to let the pair in. 

Oliver led the way into the living room, making Lyla do a double-take when he entered. “Oliver? Oh my god. Johnny and I thought you were gone.” She gasped. 

“Hey, Lyla. Yeah, I’m getting that a lot lately.” He grinned, pulling off the hat and carding his fingers through his hair as he approached. “How’s my beautiful goddaughter?” He cooed. Kneeling in front of the infant, he tickled her with his good hand, her infectious laugh bringing a much-needed smile to his face. 

“She’s becoming as sassy as her father.” Lyla laughed. 

Dig cleared his throat behind them, getting Oliver’s attention once again. Turning his head to the noise, Oliver briefly caught Felicity’s entranced gaze before forcing himself to look at Dig. 

“What happened, man? You’ve got a lot to fill us in on.” Dig said, adding a subtle glance towards Felicity. 

“Let me go put Sara down for a nap and then we can talk. I get the feeling this will need all of my attention.” Lyla said, rising from the couch and disappearing up to the second floor of the house. 

Within minutes, they were all seated in the living room – Dig and Lyla occupying the couch with Felicity and Oliver seated in neighboring arm chairs. 

Diggle’s observant eye glanced between the pair. “Why don’t we start with introductions.” 

Clearing his throat, Oliver glanced at Felicity to his right. Running his fingers through his hair, Oliver met Diggle and Lyla’s curious gazes. “Diggle, Lyla, this is Felicity Smoak. Felicity, these are my good friends John Diggle and Lyla Michaels.” 

John’s eyebrows rose as he glanced at Felicity before fixing Oliver with a look. Lyla at least had the decency to give Felicity a genuinely warm smile in welcome. 

Felicity was oblivious to John’s scrutiny, offering a tiny wave. “Nice to meet you both. Oliver speaks very highly of you.” 

“So, what were you guys told?” Oliver prompted, trying to distract from the awkward tension filling the room. 

Before the pair on the couch said anything, they both threw questioning looks at Oliver. 

“She knows. She’s the one that kept me alive.” He assured, waving off their concern. 

Nodding, it was Diggle that spoke up. “A memo was sent around to the whole Starling Unit saying you suffered mortal injuries on your mission last night. They’re holding a memorial for you on Monday.” 

Oliver laughed a bitter laugh, shaking his head. 

“What’s going on?” Lyla prompted. “Why would Waller send that out when you’re clearly still alive?” 

“My team tried to kill me, on purpose.” He replied, anger seeping into his words. “I managed to disable most of them and get away, but Slade Wilson is good. He shot me through the shoulder as I tried to escape, but I paid him back. I ended up dragging myself to Felicity’s balcony last night, and she took care of me.” 

“I hope he wasn’t too much trouble for you.” Diggle joked, offering Felicity a knowing grin. 

Felicity could only shrug. “If you’re good friends with him, then I’m sure you know your hope is misplaced.” She quipped. Diggle and Lyla shared a knowing look and laugh, whereas an offended “Hey” came from Oliver. 

Diggle turned a frown to Oliver. “But, why? I’ve never heard of A.R.G.U.S. taking out their own.” 

“I have.” Lyla interrupted. “It’s rare. But in cases of desertion or betrayal, Waller has ordered for an internal kill.” Her words were cold, clearly revealing her distaste for that particular truth. “What did you do?” 

Leaning back, Oliver sighed. “Did you know that A.R.G.U.S. has imprisoned Metahumans?” 

Diggle looked shocked, but Lyla remained curious. “Yes.” She revealed, earning a puzzled look from her husband. “What? I report directly to Waller. I’m privy to a lot of information.” She shrugged at Diggle. 

“Did you know that they’re experimenting on them? Torturing them? Even killing some of them in the name of bettering A.R.G.U.S.?” He bit out, nodding to Felicity. 

On cue, Felicity pulled out her tablet. Retrieving the information Oliver gave her last night, she handed it over for Diggle and Lyla to look through. 

Dig’s face went oddly pale. “You’re kidding me.” 

“I had no idea...” Lyla shook her head. “I just thought they were criminals.” 

“Okay. Okay. Start from the beginning.” Diggle urged, forcing his gaze away from the disgusting footage. 

“You know that mission you lifted me from the other day?” Oliver asked Diggle. At Diggle’s immediate nod of confirmation, he continued. “That guy was a Meta. We were sent to capture him. Like you, I had no idea. My team was unprepared for his powers. He multiplies. That’s how we got overwhelmed. I was unlucky, or lucky depending on how you look at it, and got captured. When I came to, he questioned me about other Metas. He wanted to know what A.R.G.U.S. was doing with them. He gave me names – the names on that flash drive. Waller met with me herself after you got me out, Dig. She essentially told me that what they are doing with the Meta’s is for the betterment of the agency and not to look into things that don’t concern me.” 

“And you, being the stubborn idiot that you are, did the exact opposite.” Dig finished with a huff. 

“Exactly.” Oliver laughed. “I conducted my own personal investigation. Word got around pretty quickly, I guess, so Waller tried to shut me up by sending Slade Wilson after me.” 

Diggle shook his head slowly, staring at Oliver in shock. “If Waller is willing to go to those lengths, and lying about the fact that you’re still alive, something’s not right.” 

Oliver nodded. “We think they’re making a serum.” He explained, gesturing to Felicity. “They mention it several times in the videos. Likely meant to impart Meta powers to A.R.G.U.S. agents.” 

“What do you need from us?” Lyla asked. The betrayal was clear in her gaze. 

“Honestly,” he looked between Diggle and Lyla, “we’re not sure yet. The first step was just getting here. This is going to be difficult. We can guarantee Waller won’t go down easily.” 

“You’ve got that right.” Diggle scoffed, earning a curious look from Lyla. “What? I’ve never liked the woman. You know that.” He shrugged. 

“Oliver can’t go near A.R.G.U.S., so he’ll help me remotely until the time is right. I’m thinking, if we can coordinate properly, you guys can be our eyes on the inside and get me better access to A.R.G.U.S. servers.” Felicity finally spoke up. “Not that I can’t hack them myself. I’ve done that before. But, they’re system is smart and they’ll know right away. I need access from inside to do this anonymously.” 

Lyla nodded, humming contemplatively. “I think we can do that. My connection to Waller should work to our advantage. Just tell me what you need and I’ll make it happen.” 

“Thank you.” Felicity smiled gratefully. 

“I guess our first goal is information acquisition, right?” Oliver checked with Felicity. 

“Yeah.” She agreed with a nod. “Give me a few days to get the equipment you’ll need and code the hacking program. We can all reconvene when it’s ready and go over how we’re going to proceed with phase one.” Felicity explained. 

“So, in the meantime, just pretend like nothing’s wrong?” Diggle guessed, raising a brow at Oliver. 

Oliver shrugged. “Yeah. Best not to give Waller an idea that you know what you do. You already know what they tried to do to me.” 

Diggle shared a glance with Lyla, having an entire conversation in that brief moment. Eventually, they nodded. “We can manage.” He confirmed. 

“Great!” Felicity clapped her hands together. “Just as a precaution, I’ve given Oliver a new phone. It scrambles his signal, so he shouldn’t be detected. In case any of us need to communicate with the other, I’ll give you both my number as well and re-program my phone so A.R.G.U.S. can’t trace my number either – in case they get suspicious and look into your phone records.” 

Another look passed between Diggle and Lyla. “Felicity, why don’t you come with me to check on Sara and we can exchange those numbers?” Lyla offered. 

Tilting her head, Felicity glanced at Oliver. He nodded encouragingly. “Sure. I’d love to have a proper introduction to Oliver’s goddaughter, too.” Felicity agreed with a grin. 

Lyla planted a quick kiss on Diggle’s cheek and whispered something into his ear before standing with Felicity and leading her upstairs. 

Diggle sat forward, eyeing Oliver quietly. 

Rolling his eyes, Oliver held up a hand. “Before you throw your words of wisdom at me, I need you to look at my injuries. Felicity only had so many supplies, and I couldn’t check into a hospital.” 

Diggle didn’t relent immediately, opting to study Oliver for another moment before rising with a sigh. “Follow me. All the med stuff is in the supply closet off the side of the kitchen.” 

After setting up in the kitchen, a few quiet moments passed between them while Diggle removed the temporary stitches and went to work on properly cleaning and fixing up the wounds. “What do you think you’re doing man?” 

Oliver shrugged, earning a grunt of disapproval at the disruptive movement from Diggle. “I don’t see a problem. Her technology skills are one of a kind. She’s brilliant, Dig. We need her.” 

Diggle sighed, halting his stitching on the chest wound to really look at Oliver. “You know that’s not what I’m talking about. Yes, that’s a whole other issue – involving a civilian -, but you’re about to have bigger problems.” 

“What are you trying to say?” Oliver asked slowly. 

Turning his attention back to the task at hand, Dig shrugged. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt, Oliver. Don’t forget, the first time I met you was right after you two broke up.” He cautioned. 

Oliver grit his teeth. “You’re wrong. You, more than anyone, know that it’s possible to work with an ex and even re-build that friendship. So, why are you being like this?” 

“That’s exactly why I’m so hesitant.” He grunted, moving around to fix the wound on Oliver’s shoulder blade. “I know that I got lucky. But we also reunited amicably. You burst into this poor girl’s life, Oliver. And now you’ve involved her in something very dangerous. All that stress is bound to blow up on you both.” 

A deep frown settled over Oliver’s features. “I never stopped loving her.” He admitted quietly. “I’d give my life to protect her, Dig.” 

“I know.” Diggle grumbled. “What if it’s you she needs protecting from? Can you let her go if that’s what she wants when this is all over?” 

“We don’t know that.” Oliver growled. Realizing his outburst, Oliver screwed his eyes shut and took a deep breath. “If- if that’s what she wants, then I’ll respect that wish. I only want her to be happy, and if that’s without me, then I’ll have to be okay with that.” 

“But?” Dig prompted as he tied off that last stitches on Oliver’s back. 

“But I can’t just let her go without a fight. I made that mistake last time, and I’m not going to overlook the gift of a second chance.” 

Passing by Oliver to go to the sink and wash up, a long silence settled over them after those promised words. As he dried his hands, Dig finally leveled Oliver with a concerned look. “You know I’m just looking out for you.” 

A relenting sigh slipped from Oliver’s lips as he donned his shirt again. “I know. And I appreciate it, but I’ve got it handled.” 

“I really hope so.” He agreed, coming back over to help Oliver clean up the supplies. “Now that I’ve lain my worldly wisdom on you, why don’t we go rescue Felicity from Lyla?” 

One of Oliver’s brows lifted and a smirk twisted the edges of his lips. “Watch out. If you’re not careful, that may just make it back to Lyla.” He teased as Diggle led the way to Sara’s room. 

“I’ll take those chances.” Dig laughed as he stepped into Sara’s room, sliding up behind Lyla and wrapping his arms around her waist. 

Oliver stopped short. And, so did his heart. Seeing Felicity snuggled in the rocking chair with his goddaughter tucked into the crook of her arms nearly destroyed him. The way she gently swayed in the chair, staring down with such fascination at the purest thing in his life, and the equal level of fascination on Sara’s face for Felicity, sent his mind spiraling. Thoughts bombarded him that he shelved away a little more than five years ago now. 

Back then, they were too young. That didn’t mean he didn’t silently dream of this for them one day, but he knew it would take some time. Then, his life fell apart and he pushed those thoughts into the farthest corner of his memories, never to be seen again. Or so he thought. 

Coming out of the trance Sara induced in anyone that entered her orbit, Felicity’s glowing face turned up. Her eyes didn’t even glance at Dig and Lyla, completely skipping over them to meet his gaze. 

Shoving his hands into his pockets, the corner of Oliver’s lips turned up into a hint of a smile, all the while reminding himself to stay put... keep his distance. 

For a fleeting moment, Felicity’s lips mimicked his, sharing this quiet moment with him. When she diverted her gaze down to Sara again, the moment passed and the dream went back into storage. “She’s probably the happiest baby I’ve ever seen, Mr. Diggle.” Felicity praised, forcing her focus to Dig and Lyla. 

Only glancing briefly at the completely besotted Oliver, Dig turned a proud smile back to Felicity. “First of all, Mr. Diggle makes me sound old. Please, call me Diggle... or John. Second, thank you. I wish I could claim that trait, but my wife is the more optimistic of the two of us.” He laughed, pressing a kiss into Lyla’s hair from his position behind her. 

“Did you boys have a good chat?” Lyla deflected, glancing back at Diggle and Oliver. 

Oliver pried his eyes away from Felicity. “Would you believe me if it was just Dig patching me up.” 

Lyla rolled her eyes. “Of course. You’ve really got to slow down sometime, Oliver. Sara needs her Uncle Oliver.” She jested as she stepped forward to slip Sara from Felicity’s arms when the little one started to get fussy. Secretly, Dig and Oliver knew she was only half kidding. 

Rising from the chair, Felicity ran her hands over her sweater and jeans, though there was no need to smooth anything. “Ready?” She glanced at Oliver. 

Lyla turned out of Diggle’s embrace, fixing Oliver with a concerned and curious look. “Where are you going to stay?” 

Glancing at everyone, Oliver offered a vague shrug. “I’ve got a back-up place.” 

At this Felicity’s brows rose. “Oh?” 

Oliver averted his gaze, focusing on Diggle and Lyla who looked un-phased. 

“Good.” Diggle nodded. 

Stepping forward, Oliver held out his hand to Diggle. “Thanks for everything, Dig.” He offered as Diggle took his hand for a firm shake. 

Moving to Lyla, he gave her a gentle one-armed hug around Sara before leaning down to press a soft kiss to Sara’s forehead. “Take care and keep this little one safe.” 

“Of course.” Lyla grinned, glancing down as she gently bounced the little girl in her arms. “Take care of yourself too. Johnny can’t be patching you up all the time.” 

With a toothy grin, Oliver shrugged. “Don’t count on it.” Finally turning his gaze back to Felicity, he nodded out the door. “Ready.” 

Blinking out of her thoughts, Felicity smiled to Diggle and Lyla. “We’ll be in touch, and it was very nice to meet you both.” 

“Nice to finally meet you as well.” Diggle smiled softly, following them out. 

Once Oliver and Felicity were through the front door (this time, at Felicity’s insistence) and heading back to Felicity’s car, Lyla turned her head slightly towards her husband though her eyes never wavered from the retreating pair. “Does he know how hard this is going to be for him?” 

Sighing, Diggle shook his head. “No. Underneath that brooding exterior, you know he’s always been a softie. And she’s his ultimate weakness.” Diggle looped his arm around Lyla’s shoulder, pulling her close. 

Humming, Lyla laid her head against his shoulder. “She seems like a great girl. Good head on her shoulders. I do hope it works out for them.” 

“Yeah... me too.” He whispered, pressing a kiss into her hair.


	5. Chapter 5

Gentle knocking broke Felicity’s intense concentration on the tablet in front of her. Saving her progress, she slid from her chair at the dining table and crossed the room to reach the door. 

Pressing up onto her toes, she peered through the peephole. Seconds later she unlocked her door and pulled it open. “You know, I feel like it’s redundant for me to actually check the peephole these days. If someone really wanted to hurt me, they probably wouldn’t have the courtesy to knock.” 

Pinching his lips together, Oliver frowned. “You would be surprised. I wouldn’t put it past them to do just that to minimize evidence and suspicion of wrong-doing.” He warned. 

Biting her lip, Felicity dropped her gaze. “I didn’t think of that.” She murmured. “Well, hi there. Come on in and please ignore my very unsuccessful attempt at humor just then.” She lifted her lips into a smile and moved to the side to welcome Oliver into the apartment. 

Though still a little terse, he managed a smile too. “Just, don’t stop checking, okay.” He reminded as he brushed by her. “I brought Big Belly. I thought we would need fuel to make it through this.” He lifted the bag in his right hand for her to see. 

Closing and locking the door, Felicity spun around on her heel and ripped the bag from his grip. Immediately peeling it open, she stuck her head into the bag as she walked back to the dining room table. “What did you get?” She placed it down among the array of tablets and papers scattered over the surface of the dining room table and started lifting out the contents. 

“Big Belly Buster, no tomatoes for you.” 

Her eyes flickered to him as he strode up to her side. They lingered for a breath before focusing on the food again. 

“I also have my usual in there. And I got a large fry for us to share.” 

A tiny smile curled her lips as she collected her burger and resumed her seat at her tablet. “You mean, a large fry for you to have a few fries before I’m left to finish the rest of it.” At least, that was how they did it back then. 

Sliding into the seat across from her, Oliver grinned at his burger as he unwrapped it. “You know me so well.” He took a large bite of his food as he shifted his gaze back to her. “How’s it going?” He nodded his head at the tablet she refocused her attention on almost as soon as she sat down again. 

“Good.” She said around a mouthful of burger. Holding up a finger, she asked for a minute as she finished her bite. “Sorry.” She winced as soon as she swallowed. “Lyla has the drive with the program and should be installing it in Waller’s computer soon. I’m just double-triple-checking that it’s okay because I’m nervous and I’m afraid something will go wrong and we’ll get caught.” 

Lowering his burger, Oliver stared hard at her. “Are you still Felicity Smoak?” 

Felicity raised a brow at him. “Um, yeah. Last time I checked I’m still me.” She took another bite of her burger. 

“Then I know it’s perfect. You could code it in your sleep and it would work on the first try.” His words were firm. 

Felicity dipped her gaze, focusing on her tablet. “Thank you.” She mumbled around a mouthful of fries that she stuffed in there as a distraction. 

They ate in silence for a minute or two after that. Felicity scrolled through the program, regardless, and Oliver was content to observe her in her element. 

Two simultaneous dings interrupted the silence, both reaching for their phones. “Lyla...” Oliver started. 

“Installed it. Perfect.” Felicity finished excitedly, setting her burger down quickly. Wiping her fingers off, she pulled her tablet a little closer and went to work – her fingers flying furiously over the attached keyboard. “I’m in!” Her left hand flew into the air as a triumphant fist. “Now, I just have the start the tracer program. It’s set to search for any data in Waller’s hard drive containing certain key words: metahuman, the names of the people from the original file you brought me, anything related to a serum, things like that.” 

With his own burger temporarily forgotten, Oliver watched on in awe. “How long will it take to gather the data?” 

Felicity shrugged. “Hard to say. There could be a few hundred files... or thousands. My extraction algorithm is incredibly efficient, but it could still take several hours. Once we have them, we can meet with Lyla and John tonight to go over the data and decide how we’re going to act on what we find.” Her typing ceased and she leaned back against the chair with a sigh. “It’s running smoothly. Now, we wait.” 

Swallowing the bite of burger in his mouth, Oliver tilted his head curiously. “So, did you ever start that company of yours? Like you dreamed of doing. Or are you still at QC?” 

Picking up her burger, Felicity eyed him as she took a slow bite. “You do know QC is no longer its own entity, right?” Her words were slow, careful. 

Oliver frowned. “What?” 

“Oliver, I’m so sorry.” She pursed her lips. “When you left, that she-devil Rochev snatched up the company and ran it into the ground four years ago. Ray Palmer bought it out as a subsidiary of Palmer Tech. I thought you knew...” 

“No.” He diverted his gaze to his left. “I put that part of my life behind me. But I never thought QC would go under like that.” 

Felicity bit her tongue by shoving a few fries into her mouth, letting him ruminate on that piece of news without her input. That was a whole other conversation that wasn’t necessary right now. 

“Do you... do you ever talk to Thea?” 

Watching him with a curious brow, Felicity nodded. “Yeah, I still talk to Thea.” 

“Good, good.” He breathed, almost like he was relieved, as he finished off his burger. 

Eating the last bites of her own burger, Felicity turned her attention back to the tablet to check the program’s progress in his silence, thinking he was done. 

“You know,” he dipped a fry into some ketchup and popped it into his mouth. “You never answered my first question.” 

Curling her lips together, she glanced up at him skeptically. “Oliver, why are you really asking me about all of this?” Her glance dipped back to the progress bar. “Don’t tell me you're actually interested in my life now.” 

Leaning forward, Oliver crossed his arms on the table and dipped his head to meet her eyes. “But I am, Felicity. I really want to know how you’ve been.” He said softly. 

Frowning, Felicity reluctantly lifted her eyes to meet his, though she leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. “It only took you five years. Why the sudden change?” 

Oliver opened his mouth, starting to say something, but closed it soon after. His brows scrunched up in his pause. “I know I can’t mend things and go back to what we had in a day... maybe ever. But, before we were an us, we were best friends, and I miss my best friend.” 

Sucking in a deep breath, Felicity leapt from her seat suddenly, wrapping her arms around herself as she moved into the living room. 

Oliver swiveled in his seat but remained where he was. His hand gripped the back of the chair painfully. 

“I-” She choked on her words, “I miss that too.” She admitted quietly over her shoulder. “But that doesn’t change things, Oliver.” 

“Doesn’t it?” He pleaded, leaning forward, nearly out of his seat now. 

Spinning around, Felicity’s face was blank, even angry. “No. You don’t get to ask me how I’ve been, get to know me, pretend to be there for me. You don’t get to be that guy and then disappear again when this is all over.” 

“Felicity, I would ne-” 

“Don’t.” She halted his words. “Don’t finish that. And don’t make promises you’re not even sure you can’t keep yet.” 

Silence followed. 

With a deep breath, Felicity looked back at her tablet. “Let’s just take this for what it is – a business partnership. We need to focus on finishing the mission and getting out of it alive.” 

“If that’s what you want.” Oliver drooped in his chair. 

“We just can’t afford to focus on anything else right now.” She reasoned with a shrug. 

Two gentle knocks quickly turned Felicity’s attention to the door, glad for the distraction. With a brief check of the peep hole, she pulled the door open to reveal Dig’s hulking frame carrying two very large duffel bags. “Good to see you again, Dig. Come on in.” Felicity smiled quietly. 

“Thanks, Felicity.” He flashed her a grin as he brushed passed her when entering the loft. “I brought all the equipment I could scrape up for tonight’s mission. I saw that Lyla-” His voice cut off as he looked between the two. 

Felicity lingered near the door with her arms wrapped tightly around her chest, clearly in no hurry to look at or go near Oliver. 

Oliver, meanwhile, barely spared Dig a glance, his eyes silently and adamantly begging Felicity to look his way. 

Rolling his eyes, Diggle marched toward Oliver and the dining room table. Dropping one of the heavy duffel bags on the floor next to Oliver finally startled the man out of his stupor. 

With a wince, Oliver glanced up at his friend, already expecting the worst. 

Diggle cast him a disappointed look, shaking his head. “Felicity. Why don’t we go through any data we’ve already gotten from the tap while I tell you a little more about how A.R.G.U.S. works. That way we’re prepared when Lyla is done with her shift and we can just fill her in.” He offered gently, turning around to fix her with a smile. 

Blinking out of her daze, Felicity gave Dig a thankful smile as she meandered back to the dining room table where her tablet and other tech remained, making a wide berth around Oliver. “Yes, let’s start planning. We have a lot to cover to make sure we’re ready for tonight.”

* * *

Biting her thumbnail nervously, Felicity watched the CCTV feed from her tablet, tracking the van carrying Oliver, John, and Lyla as they make their way to A.R.G.U.S.’s Starling headquarters. They just passed 5th Street, only five blocks away from their stopping point where they would go the last block on foot to avoid the A.R.G.U.S. security cameras. 

_“Felicity,”_ Oliver started softly, _“I can feel your nerves from here. We’re going to be okay.”_

She wanted to snip at him, tell him he couldn’t know that, but she didn’t want to think about that either. “Can- can we just go over the mission one more time.” 

_“Sure.”_ Came Lyla’s soothing voice. _“We’ve already given you a map of the street view camera’s Felicity. When we stop, Oliver, Dig, and I will navigate the blind spots with your help.”_

“Right. And when you are in range, I’ll cut the feed to a loop I’ve prepared so the cameras at the entrance don’t see you. When you get there, no guards will be present during the changeover process. To make sure they don’t identify you entering, I’ll remotely take control of the electronic lock system and let you into any doors you encounter along the way.” Felicity added, glancing between the many tablets and laptops she surrounded herself with to make sure she had the feeds and command windows up that she needed. 

_“And as we go through, you’ll also alter the feed inside, but only along the planned route so as not to arouse too much suspicion.”_ Dig confirmed. _“We’ll head straight for the sector where they’re keeping the Meta’s and the research. With your eyes on our path keeping us away from guards, and from the data we found on Waller’s system earlier, we should be in and out in less than fifteen minutes.”_

“Yup. The goal is to minimize the number of eyes that spot you. The more people who see you, the more complications that makes later trying to get out. Just get in, get what we need to build our case, get out, then we’ll regroup and plan for the final mission to take this whole operation down.” Felicity said, like a mantra to calm herself, reminding herself that this was a simple reconnaissance mission and nothing more. 

In the background of the comms, the quiet purr of the engine shut off. Felicity’s heart raced in her chest. It was go time. 

The metal doors of the rented van clanged shut. _“We’re on the move.”_ Oliver quietly muttered into the comms. A long period of silence followed that as they navigated the blind spots. _“Approaching the door. Cut the feed, Felicity.”_

Like a switch flipping, all her nerves were gone. She slipped into the zone she only channeled when hacking back when she was younger. Typing furiously, she easily tapped into the A.R.G.U.S. network that she mapped earlier and flipped the feed to her homemade loop. “Feed is off. Good to go.” She confirmed. 

_“Copy that.”_ Lyla affirmed. _“How about on the inside?”_

“No sign of any movement in the immediate vicinity. Give me one... more... second... there! Cameras are off inside along the path. Unlocking the door now.” With one tap of her keyboard, the electronic lock at the entrance disabled briefly. 

_“We’re in. We’ll take it from here, but keep an eye out Felicity and let us know if anyone is in our path.”_ Dig said as Felicity watched them move into view of the actual live camera feed on her other computer. 

“Copy that.” Felicity confirmed. 

_“Okay, let's get in and get out as quickly as possible.”_ Lyla told the boys as they made their way quickly and cautiously down the halls of A.R.G.U.S. with their guns raised protectively in front of themselves. 

Watching quietly for a few minutes, Felicity noticed some movement on one of the cameras. “Guys, two agents crossing your path two halls ahead.” 

On the camera, Oliver ducked into a hallway on the right while Dig and Lyla moved into one on their left. Peeking his head around the corner, Oliver watched for movement. The agents passed, and after a few more breaths Lyla gave the signal and they resumed their trek. 

“Just a few more turns and the door should be straight ahead. I’m in the system and waiting, so give me the signal when you get there and I’ll unlock the door.” Felicity advised. 

_“Spotted the door just up ahead.”_ Oliver noted quietly. _“Go ahead and unlock it.”_

With another tap, the door opened. Turning expectantly, Felicity waited for them to come into view on her screen in the lab. But they never did. “Are you guys in?” 

_“Yeah. But it’s odd. I feel like I’ve been here before.”_ Lyla hesitantly noted. 

Cold rushed through her body. Her heart skipped a beat. “Guys, I can’t see you. Are you sure you followed the path?” She checked frantically, jumping into action as she checked her camera feeds. 

One was offline. The one at the destination. “We have a problem...” Felicity started. 

_“I know this lab. It’s the tech lab.”_ Oliver revealed, dread filling his own voice. _“There’s nothing here.”_

_“And here I thought you would never catch on.”_ A maniacal voice laughed over the comms. 

_“Adrian Chase. Of course, the slimiest agent is in on this too.”_ Oliver growled. 

_“I only pick the winning side. You three should not have come after us. If you were tricked by this little mission, there’s no way you think that you can really stop us.”_ Chase taunted. 

Felicity’s breathing hastened as she listened in. They were trapped in the room with this maniac, and she led them right into it. Now was not the time to panic, though. Maybe if she could get eyes on the situation, she could help them get out of there. Working furiously, she tried to reroute her bug to get access to the live camera feed. But every time she got the final control lock, she was kicked back out. “Frack!” She exclaimed after her third try, slamming her hands against the dining room table. 

_“Felicity,”_ Oliver murmured softly, _“It’s okay.”_ His tone was a little too soothing, which did nothing to ease the sickening feeling in her stomach.

_“Ah yes, Felicity.”_ Chase’s slimy voice drew out her name. 

_“Don’t you dare speak about her you-”_ Oliver growled.

_“Oliver, don’t.”_ Dig urged quickly. 

_“I just wanted to say hi, that’s all.”_ Chase cackled. And suddenly, her screen lit up with the live camera feed in the lab. 

Her breath stopped in her chest. Oliver, Dig, and Lyla faced down Chase, who looked as slimy as he sounded, and five masked A.R.G.U.S. goons. Seconds later, Chase turned his head to look directly at the camera. The grin on his face curled into an ugly smile. _“Goodbye, Felicity.”_ He waved sweetly, but the gesture made Felicity’s stomach roll. 

Seconds later, her camera feeds all turned black. Her horrified reflection replaced the scenes she just watched. Instinct kicked in seconds later and she was furiously typing again. She needed to keep her eyes on them at all costs. “I don’t have eyes on you anymore. You guys need to get out of there as quickly as possible.” 

_“We’ll handle-”_ Lyla’s voice crackled over her comms. 

“Guys? If you can hear me, please say something.” Felicity begged as she typed. Every route she tried to take to get back in, she hit a firewall. 

_“Fel-”_ The comms cut out on Dig. _“-tay safe.”_

“No, no, no.” She breathed, working even more frantically. “I’m losing you guys. Please, say something if you can hear me.” 

This time, silence met her ears. 

Her fingers stilled over her keyboard, trembling instead of typing. Staring at the pitch-black screen, Felicity confronted her reflection. 

“Lyla? John?!” She begged. “Oliver?” His name barely came out as a whimper. 

Nothing. Not even static.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, not sorry for the ending to that last chapter. But hopefully the short wait and what I've got in store for this chapter make up for it ;)
> 
> *P.s. We finally earn that rating in this chapter!!!

The clock ticked past 3 a.m. 

Still no word. Two excruciating hours after the comms went dead. 

She felt helpless. The first ten minutes after she lost contact, once she stopped wallowing and blaming herself for what happened, she spent those achingly long minutes frantically searching for any way to disable the signal blocker. It felt like an eternity ago now. After realizing there was no use, then came the pacing... so much pacing. She needed to stay put, in case they came here. If they were even alive, that is. And she couldn’t risk going out into the open if Waller had eyes on her. So, she was stuck. 

Pacing over to the large wall of glass separating her from her balcony, Felicity blankly stared through her reflection to the city skyline. Nibbling on her lower lip, she crossed her arms tightly over her chest. Spinning around to check the clock on her microwave just one more time, the crease between her brows deepened. 

3:05 a.m. 

Unwilling to waste more time watching a clock that only worsened her anxiety, she spun back to the window, but her eyes never really saw the sights outside. 

They failed. She failed. Led them right into a trap and couldn’t get them out safely once they figured it out. They might all be dead, with no way of her ever knowing. And they were likely coming for her next. 

Reality settled in... that she might never see Oliver again... never tell him... 

A light tapping came at her door, interrupting those thoughts. 

Spinning on her heels, pony tail whipping around behind her, her eyes hesitated on the dark figure behind the frosty panes. She couldn’t let herself hope. Not yet. 

Running across the space, she didn’t even bother checking the peephole before ripping the door open. If it was who she thought, he would berate her if he ever found out. But it would be worth it. 

A sob bubbled forth, barely covered by the hand she raised to her lips, when he came into full view. “Oh my god.” 

“Sorry it took so long.” Oliver said softly, holding her teary gaze. “I had to make sure I wasn’t followed.” 

She barely let him get the words out before lunging at him, wrapping her arms tightly around his chest as her sobs broke through. At the pressure, Oliver hissed slightly, but wrapped his arms around her nonetheless. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m fine.” 

“I’m so sorry.” She sobbed, her whole body shaking violently in his arms. “I sent you into that. You could have d-died.” 

Gently, Oliver walked them back into her apartment, quietly kicking the door closed behind them. “Felicity, I’m okay.” He whispered into her ear. “Dig and Lyla are fine too and at their safe house with Sara. You didn’t know.” One of his hands slipped lower to gently rub her back as her sobs started to wane. 

Stepping out of his embrace, Felicity’s red, tear-filled eyes desperately bounced between his own gaze and the rest of his body. Her hands slid around, fluttering over his shoulders, arms and chest... searching. “Are you hurt?” Her voice was so small. 

Gently, Oliver placed his hands on the outside of her shoulders. Dipping his head, he watched her hands ghost over his chest once more. He slid his hands down her arms in a soothing gesture, slipping his hands into hers and lifting them from his body. “I promise, I’m okay. A few bruises, but no life-threatening bullet wounds. And at least I used the front door this time.” He teased. 

She wanted to laugh, share his relief and joy, but Felicity couldn’t fight the tears that came instead. 

His brows pinched together. “Felicity, what? Talk to me.” 

Glancing at their hands and then up to see the genuine concern in his gaze, her heart thumped. “I thought I lost you.” She whispered, voice cracking around some of her words. “For real, this time. And we left on such a bad note...” 

Oliver leaned back, but only just enough to look into her eyes. Slipping one hands from hers, he brushed his thumb over her unshed tears and guided the hand still in hers to rest against his chest. “You didn’t lose me.” He promised. “You _never_ lost me.” 

They shared a smile. A weight lifted from Felicity’s chest, though the possibility of really losing him lingered. 

“I just came by to let you know I’m- we’re okay, so I’m going to...” Oliver made to leave, and break the tension, as he turned back towards the door. 

“Stay.” 

Oliver’s head whipped back around. 

With a deep breath, Felicity held his stare, hoping she looked and sounded more confident that she really felt. “I don’t really want to be alone after all that. And, it’s late.” 

He turned his body toward her again, slowly giving in despite the hesitancy in his gaze. “Felicity, it might not be safe yet. I can’t risk leading them here...” 

“Please.” Her words were small. “I’d feel safer with you here, and I just want to wake up tomorrow knowing that you’re safe too.” 

“Yeah, okay. Sure.” He nodded slowly, the corner of his mouth lifting a little. Moving past her, Oliver made to go for the couch once again. 

Felicity’s hand shot out, grabbing his. “That’s... that’s not what I meant.” Her voice was barely above a whisper again. 

At his questioning gaze, Felicity curled her bottom lip between her teeth. She no longer had the courage to use words, so she would show him. 

Keeping his hand in hers, she led him to the stairs instead, and up to the lofted bedroom. A place that was once theirs. 

And Oliver followed, slowly at first as his confusion lingered, but then more willingly, never straying too far. Even when Felicity halted in front of her bed and released his hand, he was close enough for his breath to fan over her cheek. 

When she turned around, his gaze was lazily sweeping over the room. Until it wasn’t. His unusually dark eyes met hers. His chest heaved, nearly brushing hers from their proximity, with each deep breath he took. But he refused to move. His arms remained pinned to his sides. 

Felicity knew that look. She swallowed thickly. Goosebumps broke out over her whole body as she fought off a shiver. The sound of her heart beat filled her ears through the silence of the room. 

But there was also a question in his eyes. 

Even now, after everything, he was still such a good man. 

And she had his answer. 

Linking her hands behind her back, she raised onto her toes, tilted her chin up, and brushed her lips over his. This time, she couldn’t stop the shiver that threatened to rock her body at the long-awaited touch. 

Felicity went to pull away. His large hands were immediately there to stop her, though, gently framing her face and bringing her back to him. 

When their lips touched for a second time, the touch was anything but soft. The kisses were hot, desperate, and open-mouthed with tongues and teeth clashing almost awkwardly as they tried to find their rhythm again. Leaning into him a little more, Felicity unwound her hands from behind her back and placed them flat against his stomach. 

After a few more fumbling kisses, everything around them slowed as their lips finally collapsed together into a familiar position. Oliver lovingly caressed her lower lip with each subsequent kiss. 

Curling her fingers into his shirt as yet another shiver rocked her small frame, Felicity hungrily met each of his kisses with her own, their tongues occasionally peeking out to brush the other’s lips. 

Oliver parted from her slightly, the pads of his thumbs brushing her cheeks. 

The touch and the weight of his gaze on her forced her eyes open once again, bringing her back from their hungry frenzy just a moment ago. She found so many questions in his eyes, many of which mirrored the ones floating in the back of her mind. But now wasn’t the time to talk. She just wanted to feel. 

Leaning back a little, she pulled up at the hem of his shirt. Immediately, he dropped his hands from her face, hastily helping her pulling it over his head and fling it off to the side. Reaching out for her again, he wrapped his arms around her waist to pull her in as her fingers ghosted over his skin for a moment. She lingered on a few scars, including the freshest one that brought him back into her life just a few days ago. 

Slipping his fingertips under her shirt, he caressed the skin of her lower back as he watched her caress each of his marks. Her fingers halted at his touch, though, her eyes slipping shut as her back arched into him. 

Dipping his head, he brushed his nose against hers. “Felicity.” Her name quietly left his lips, as both a prayer and one final question. 

Her answer came. Her lips brushed his again, and at that first touch Oliver opened up to her, meeting her for another deep kiss. 

Before they could build up momentum again, Oliver’s hands tugged at her shirt this time with an insistent growl against her lips. Ripping her lips from his quickly, Felicity nearly whacked him in the face as she shed her shirt, both of them momentarily sharing a breathy and somewhat nervous laugh at their awkwardness. 

Taking advantage of the moment, Felicity was done wasting time. Reaching down, she undid her jeans hastily pulling them down, slipping them and her socks off before they too disappeared into the void of the darkened room. Following her lead, Oliver clumsily bent down to rip his shoes and socks off, stumbling a few times as he attempted to balance on one foot. Felicity bit back a giggle, and a smile curled Oliver’s lips as he righted himself and fumbled with his jeans until they were sent packing as well. 

All humor evaporated as soon as his jeans hit the floor, leaving Oliver in his already bulging boxer briefs and Felicity in her mismatched and decidedly un-sexy bra and underwear. But it didn’t matter. Oliver’s eyes followed every curve of her body, drinking them in like a man dying of thirst. 

In a flash, his eyes met hers again and he closed the distance between them in two long steps. Before she could blink, Oliver scooped her up, his hands wrapping firmly around the backs of her thighs and lifting her off the ground. Quickly, Felicity wrapped her arms around his shoulders and her legs around his waist. Leaning in, Oliver nipped at her lower lip before capturing her lips in another fiery kiss as he walked them to the bed. With one arm wrapped firmly around her waist, he planted a knee and his other hand on the soft surface to act as a guide as he crawled them both onto the bed, gently lowering them down when he knew they were both safely on top. 

As he settled between her hips, his hardening length brushed her for the first time in a long time. Tearing her lips from his, her head rolled back as a sharp gasp left her lips. Tightening the grip of her legs around his waist, she attempted to pull him closer as she rolled her hips into his. 

“Oh god... fuck.” Oliver gasped too, one hand shooting out to grip the edge of the headboard until his knuckles went white, the other gently curling around her hip to halt her motions. Dipping his head into the crook of her neck, he waited there for a few breaths that fanned over her already sheened skin. “Hang on. Please.” 

“Oliver.” She whined, trying to fight the hand on his hip and seek out the pleasure she so desperately craved now. “Time...” A gasp interrupted her words as she managed to brush against him again. “We have time. Right now, I need you.” 

“Fe-li-ci-ty. You’re going to be the death of me.” He growled against her skin, still desperately trying to hold himself together. After a few breaths, he extracted himself from her neck to slide down the bed. 

A brief whimper left Felicity’s throat at the loss of contact. 

Before she could fully protest, Oliver was hooking his fingers into her panties and hurriedly sliding them down her legs with Felicity’s help as she lifted off the bed. Rolling out from between her legs, he landed next to her on the bed. Still fumbling a little with his shaky hands, Oliver tried to shove his own boxer briefs off as quickly as possible. 

Sitting up in her position next to him, Felicity worked to remove her bra while watching him with eager eyes, waiting for her moment to pouch. The minute he freed himself, she swung her leg over his and straddled his thighs. Reaching out, she took him in her hand, sliding up and down his length at an agonizingly slow pace. 

“Felicity...” He growled in warning, his hands gripping her hips firmly. 

Lazily, her hooded gaze met his. The tiniest smirk curled her lips. Removing her hand, she leaned over to reach for her night stand, pulling out a condom from the drawer. 

Oliver took that brief moment of freedom to slide back just enough to rest his back against the headboard. 

Turning back with the condom in hand, Felicity’s brow quirked at the new position. Oliver shrugged, smiled softly, and curled his finger, beckoning her closer. Tearing open the packaging, she tossed the wrapper over the side of the bed as she crawled towards him to straddle his thighs again. 

Watching with his heavy gaze, Oliver curled his massive hands over the tops of her thighs. His thumbs absently stroked the soft skin of her inner thigh as he watched her every move while she applied the condom with ease. 

Rising up, she positioned herself above him, her unfocused eyes looking down at his for once. Oliver slid his hands up her thighs to gently grasp her hips, ready to guide her. Slipping her hand between their bodies, Felicity guided him to her entrance while using her other hand on his chest to maintain balance as she slid down onto him with only a slight wince. 

At the bottom, Oliver wrapped his arms tightly around her waist and his forehead dropped to her shoulder. Clenching his mouth shut, his whole body tensed under her. 

Fluttering her fingers over his shoulders and into his hair, Felicity gently combed at the soft hairs at the base of his neck. He wore his hair a little longer than she remembered, and she certainly didn’t mind. Curling her fingers into the hairs, Felicity slowly rolled her hips against his, earning a sharp breath from where Oliver’s face was still buried against her shoulder. 

In time, his hips moved with hers, his upward thrusts limited by the position he put them in. But that’s how he liked it: Felicity in full control. Pressing a soft kiss against her skin, Oliver peeled his face away from its hiding place. 

Felicity’s head was thrown back as she rode him at a languid pace. But that didn’t last long. Her fingers gripped his hair a little tighter. The other hand clawed at his shoulder, gripping it just as firmly as his hair. Her hips picked up their pace, mixing up the pace a little more. Slow, then fast. Grinding, up and down, and back to grinding back and forth. 

He worshiped her. His hands admired her curves and appreciated the softness of her skin. His eyes never left her face, enjoying every emotion and sensation that changed her features with each new movement her body performed above him. Rolling his hips up, his body naturally reacting to hers, he matched her timing and met each of her movements. Slipping a hand between them, he brushed a thumb over her clit. 

Her hips convulsed against his as a weak whimper bubbled up in her throat. “Oliver, please don’t stop.” She breathed. 

Dutifully, his thumb continued its work, gently stimulating her the way he knew how. In response, her walls fluttered around him. “So... beautiful...” He ground out, clenching his teeth and fighting against his impending orgasm. But his hips jerked erratically under her. He moved his hands to grip her hips. Dropping his head back against the headboard, his own eyes finally slid shut as he thrust a little more urgently up into her. 

A few more thrusts combined with her desperate grinding and he stilled under her. His fingers pressed into her soft curves, trying to hold her in place, but her soft rocking coaxed him through his orgasm, amplifying every wave of it. 

Felicity’s soft palm against his scruff forced his heavy eyelids open. She glowed above him. A thin layer of sweat coated her skin, plastering a few curls to her forehead, and a soft smile lingered on her lips and in her eyes. She was beautiful. 

Leaning down, Felicity pressed a soft kiss to his lips before rolling off him. Sprawling out on the bed next to him, her chest heaved with exhaustion. 

Crinkling his brow, Oliver quickly removed the condom, tied it off and placed it in the trash can on his side of the bed before forcing his tired body to roll over so he could face her. Eyeing her, he gently stroked her inner thigh with his left hand. “You didn’t have to stop. This is for you too.” He whispered, leaning down to press a kiss to her shoulder. 

Rolling her head to her left, she raised her brow at him. 

Sliding his hand up, he thumbed her clit again and curled two fingers into her. 

Felicity’s hips arched into his touch and her mouth formed into a small ‘O’. Her whole body still hyper-sensitive and worked up. 

“That’s what I thought.” He laughed softly. “Let me take care of you, like I promised.” His tone changed, seriousness and tenderness taking over. 

Cracking her eyes open, she found his gaze mere centimeters away. Licking her lips, her gaze flickered down to his lips. Her whole body yearned for his. Craning her neck up, she pressed her lips to his, urging him on. 

His lips reacted quickly, moving hungrily against hers as he gently stroked his fingers inside of her wetness. Her hips rolled in time with each stroke, back arching off the bed slowly. When he brushed his thumb over her clit again, a deep moan vibrated from her throat onto his lips as her body convulsed suddenly against him. 

Grinning against her lips, he changed the pace of his strokes, speeding up as he urged her towards the edge like she had for him minutes ago. Pulling back, he watched her body arch back against the bed, her head pressing hard into the pillow behind it. 

Peeling her eyes open, she watched his hand work between her legs, a soft moan leaving her lips at the sight. Then her gaze flickered up to his again, observing him quickly before noticing something out of the corner of her very hazy gaze. Reaching over, she took his semi-hard length into her hand again with a smirk. “Really?” It was her turn to goad him. 

A groan slipped from his lips at her touch. “Only for you, you know that Felicity.” He said softly as he worked his fingers inside of her and his thumb over her clit a little faster. 

Taking her hand from him, she reached into her nightstand again and tossed another condom at his chest. “Get over here, quickly.” 

Oliver froze briefly. When his brain caught up with her request, he quickly fumbled with the package, rolled the condom on after giving himself a few strokes, and climbed between her waiting thighs. Hovering over her, he gripped himself with one hand and propped himself up with the other. 

Quietly, they watched each other for a moment. Taking in the moment. 

Pushing forward, Oliver slid into her again with more ease this time, and Felicity wrapped one leg around him under his ass. 

“Yes.” She breathed, arching against him to let him go deeper. 

No hesitation this time from either of them. With Felicity already close to the edge, Oliver immediately set his thrusts at a fast pace. Dropping his forehead against hers, his pants mixed with hers as he moved frantically inside of her. 

“Yes. Oh god. Please. Don’t stop, Oliver.” Felicity breathed out through her heavy breaths as she tried her best to meet each of his thrusts with her own. 

Gritting his teeth, he picked up the pace again. The sounds of their bodies moving as one filled the air at both of their impending orgasms. “Let go for me, Felicity.” He urged softly just before a long moan rumbled past his lips. 

Tightening her leg slung over the back of him, Felicity pressed her hips closer to his. Oliver took her other leg and opened her up a little more so he could find the right angle for them both. 

Looping her arms around his torso, her nails dug into his back as she neared the edge. Rocking against him a few more times in the new position finally sent Felicity over the edge. “O- Ol- oh my god yes, Oliver.” She gasped, her hips convulsing wildly against his as he thrust through her orgasm. 

At the intense fluttering of her walls around him, Oliver didn’t last much longer either. A few more thrusts and he slowly pressed himself as deep as he could go, letting the small shocks of his second orgasm wash over his body. It took every ounce of strength he had left to hold himself up with his shaky arms so as not to crush her while they both rode out their pleasure. 

Still breathing heavily, Oliver slid out of her slowly, did away with the condom quickly, and moved back to his side of the bed before he lost all of his strength to his exhaustion. Blinking away the sleep that fought to take him, he rolled onto his side to face Felicity. 

Feeling his gaze on her, Felicity sleepily lolled her head over to meet his gaze. Slowly, a smile curled her lips, which Oliver reciprocated immediately. With what little energy she had left, Felicity shuffled over towards him, tangled her legs with his, and draped an arm over his hip as she curled into his chest. 

The smile didn’t seem to want to leave Oliver’s lips as he wrapped himself around her. 

“Thank you.” Felicity mumbled sleepily against his chest. 

Tipping his head down, he pressed his nose into the crown of her messy hair, pausing to savor the moment. Then, he gently pressed a kiss there. “Good night, Felicity.” 

Safe in each other's arms, exhaustion from day’s events quickly pulled them both into a deep slumber.


	7. Chapter 7

At some point in the early morning hours, Felicity drifted back to her side of the bed and away from Oliver’s obnoxiously warm body heat. So, when the sun streaming through the wide glass windows in the lofted space finally pried her eyes open, a sharp shiver wracked her body, forcing her to curl into her large comforter for warmth. Seconds later, a large arm wrapped around her waist, followed by the warmth of Oliver’s large body pressing against her back again. 

“Hey.” He mumbled into her hair, his voice still thick and gravely with sleep. 

Her heart thumped in her chest. Shimmying around, Felicity spun herself in his embrace to face him. Another painful thump at the pure look of contentment lighting up his sleepy face. “Hi there.” 

Ghosting his fingers over her arm, Oliver lifted his hand to her face, brushing the hair out of her face. “How do you feel?” 

Shifting her gaze away, Felicity stretched out a little. “A little sore, but I’m okay.” She didn’t want to admit how sore she really was. 

Brushing his thumb over her cheek, he grinned. “Good.” He murmured as he leaned forward with hooded eyes. 

Wincing, Felicity quickly turned her head, causing his lips to land firmly on her cheek. 

“Felicity?” 

Closing her eyes tightly, Felicity shifted out of his embrace. Sitting up, she clutched the comforter to her chest as she finally met his gaze. “Last night was great, Oliver, but this isn’t what you think it is. I’m sorry if I misled you.” 

Sitting up on his elbows, his brow furrowed at her. “What is this, then?” He asked softly. 

Curling her fingers tightly into the comforter at her chest, Felicity gave him a soft smile. “I’m always going to love you.” She stated, making sure she held his gaze. “But nothing has changed. You left, Oliver. I’m not saying never to us, but one week doesn’t change that. Fate brought us back into each other’s lives, and regardless of our relationship status we need to talk about what happened between us before we move on.” 

Sitting up fully, the comforter pooled in his lap as Oliver reached out to take her free hand. “I’m ready. Tell me when, and I promise I’m ready to talk. We could even get dressed, go grab breakfast, and talk now if you want.” 

A sad smile curled Felicity’s lips now as she dropped her gaze to their hands. “I meant it when I said not never, but not right now either. There’s too much going on in our lives to discuss us. You crashed back into my life out of the blue five days ago. I thought you died last night. We’re still not out of the woods yet with A.R.G.U.S. either.” With a deep sigh, Felicity squeezed his hand before pulling her grip from his. “I just think it’s better if we focus on getting through this, because who knows where we’ll both be when this is all over.” 

Pinching his lips together, Oliver dipped his head and nodded slowly. “Yeah, okay. A.R.G.U.S. comes first, right now.” Glancing up, he met her gaze again. “But after...” 

“After. If we get there.” She nodded. Slipping quietly from the bed, Felicity quickly scooped up her shirt and underwear, pulling both on. “I’m going to clean up really quick.” She offered softly as she slipped into the bathroom. 

Ten minutes later, Felicity padded back out to her room looking a little more put together and feeling refreshed. Waiting for her on the bed, fully clothed and slightly hunched over, was Oliver. 

His gaze flickered to her quickly when his ears caught the sound of her soft footsteps, then he rose from the bed. “I should be going.” He said slowly, nudging his head towards the stairs. 

With a slow, hesitant nod, Felicity quietly followed him down the stairs. “Where are you going to go?” She asked quietly, tilting her head up to look at him. 

“I’ll go check in with Dig and Lyla, make sure they’re okay.” He smiled slightly. “We’ll regroup soon about our next steps.” 

Pinching her lips between her teeth, Felicity nodded. Reaching out, she wrapped it loosely around his forearm and rose onto her toes to kiss his cheek. “Please, be careful.” 

With his hand on the door, Oliver smiled down at her. “You too. Call me if anything happens. Regardless, I’ll send Dig to check on you soon.” 

Felicity nodded rapidly. A bit reluctantly, she let her hand slip from his forearm as he stepped through the door. With everything going on around them, this kind of goodbye hurt the most. The one where you weren’t sure what would happen next. 

“Lock the door. Don’t open up for anyone you don’t know. Promise me.” He said firmly. 

With a deep breath, Felicity stood a little taller and set her shoulders. “I promise.” She said as he gently shut the door behind him.

* * *

The days following that were eerily quiet. And not just regarding A.R.G.U.S. Dig checked in on her daily, usually brining her food since she couldn’t cook to save her life and because he refused to let her order take out or leave her house until this was settled. As dusk neared on the evening of the third day since their failed mission, Oliver had also been suspiciously absent. 

She expected him to keep his distance considering the way their conversation went, which he clearly wasn’t happy with the outcome. But he hadn’t even texted her once in the last few days to check in on her, and she doubted he would solely trust Dig to report her whereabouts and safety. 

To distract herself from thoughts of Oliver and the house arrest she was under, Felicity poured over all the data she had on the Meta Program. Case file after case file on all the captured Metas, detailing their powers, families, personal lives. It made Felicity sick. Some of them didn’t have families, but a few of them did. One of the saddest stories among the files was Barry Allen and Kara Danvers. Those names were familiar to Felicity too, having heard of the famous KatCo reporter and her fiancé going missing two years ago, just days before their wedding. It made Felicity wonder just how long this program has been going on. 

Then there were the files on the experiments. So many failed experiments. Each new iteration of the serum was tested on lesser agents, many of whom died in the process when their bodies and molecular structure didn’t quite bond with the structure of the Meta serum. Too many lives had been lost to this quest for power by Amanda Waller whom, upon further research into the A.R.G.U.S. database, had a dark history with experimental programs, including something called the Suicide Squad. 

She had to be stopped. A.R.G.U.S. had to be stopped. So, she continued to pour over her screens and various notes she compiled, trying to find any way for their little group to possibly put an end to this madness. 

Felicity’s phone buzzed violently next to her, startling her from her stupor. The screen lit up with John Diggle in big text across the top. Tapping the green ‘Answer’ button, Felicity put the phone up to her ear and went back to flipping through Meta experiment footage on her tablet. “Hey, Dig. What’s for dinner today?” 

_“I was just about to ask you that.”_ He laughed deeply. _“I’m getting ready to head that way, so I wanted to see if you had any cravings before I chose myself.”_

“Hmmm... how about that pizza place, Mancini’s? I haven’t had their pizza in ages.” She suggested, absently watching the videos in front of her, looking for any faces they could track down. 

_“Sure thing. I’ll buy a big one for us to share.”_

Pulling her attention away from the screen, she paused the video and leaned back in her chair. “Did you not eat with Lyla and Sara?” 

_“I did, don’t worry.”_ He laughed. _“I’m a sucker for their pizza too, but Lyla doesn’t like me eating that stuff. This will be our little secret.”_

Felicity grinned. “Sounds good. Hey, have you heard from Oliver lately?” 

Dig paused on the other end. _“I heard from him a few days ago, why?”_

Frowning, Felicity bit her lower lip. “I haven’t heard from him since the night of the mission. I know we’re not in the best place, but I’m worried.” 

_“That’s odd.”_ Diggle murmured. _“When I saw him, he said he would check in on you soon, but he had something to take care of first. Let me send him a text and see if he responds.”_

There was a pause on Diggle’s end. _“Shit.”_ He breathed. 

“What?” Felicity asked desperately, dread filling her body. 

_“His number is offline. Felicity-”_

She didn’t hear what he said after that. 

The lights cut out in her loft, blanketing the room in darkness. The only light was her tablets and the city lights streaming in from the floor-to-ceiling windows. “Dig.” Her voice trembled. Looking around frantically, Felicity spotted her knife set in the kitchen. 

_“Felicity. What is it? Are you okay?”_

“Dig, they’re here.” She sprung up from her seat, racing for the knives. Ripping out the largest one, she held it shakily out in front of herself in her right hand, her left hand gripping her phone like a lifeline. 

_“Okay. Stay as calm as you can and don’t stop fighting. I’m coming to get you. Stay on the line.”_

Felicity licked her lips. Her eyes swiveled left and right, backing away from the windows. 

An eerie silence filled the air. 

Felicity counted five shadows that appeared on her balcony. Sucking in a sharp breath, she ducked down behind the island. She didn’t have any time to run, but if she could hide long enough for Dig to get there, that was all she needed. 

A sharp sound echoed through the room as several panes of glass shattered behind her. Heavy footsteps followed, shards of glass crunching under their feet. 

“Come out, come out, Felicity. We don’t want to hurt you. We just want to talk.” 

Felicity squeezed her eyes shut, slowing her breathing. Adrian Chase. Her fingers tightened around the knife in her hand. 

Footsteps grew closer to her right. 

A booted foot came into view. Another closed in from the left. 

Swinging to her right, the knife made contact with a thigh. 

A roar of pain echoed into the quiet as he fell to his knees. The masked man growled angrily at her, grasping for her wildly. 

Desperately, Felicity backed away from the impaired man. 

Her hand landed on a shoe. A gloved hand reached down and gripped her ponytail tightly, forcing her to her feet. 

“There she is.” Chase said giddily. 

The phone slipped from her hand, crashing to the floor loudly, when reaching up to grab at the hand holding her in an attempt to free herself. Flailing herself around, Felicity swung her right arm at him. The knife made contact with the hand holding her, forcing him to let her go. 

“Bitch!” The nameless man seethed, holding his profusely bleeding arm. 

Breathing heavily, Felicity gripped the knife with both hands, holding it out in front of herself as if to hold them at a distance. Her gaze bounced rapidly between the faceless men around her before pausing on the sight of Adrian Chase’s disgusting grin. Gulping, she backed away from the men that surrounded her, only to be stopped by the counter behind her. 

“You’re quite the feisty one.” Chase cackled. “You and Queen make quite the pair.” 

“You better not have him, asshole.” Felicity spit back. 

Chase grinned, baring his teeth at her. “There’s only one way to find out.” He stepped toward her, holding his hands up at his sides. 

Two agents to either side of her grabbed each of her arms, forcing them apart and causing her to drop the knife. “NO! You won’t get away with this!” Felicity struggled against the men, twisting and turning in their grip, kicking her feet to try and make contact with something... anything. 

“Now, now.” Chase purred, stepping closer. “If you calm down, this will be much easier for you.” He suggested, leaning close to her with that sick grin on his face. 

Growling, Felicity reared back slightly and then slammed her forehead into his. 

The two agents holding her tightened their grip, pulling her away from him. 

Chase staggered back, clutching his face. At first, nothing. Then, loud laughter ripped from his lips. Dropping his hand, Chase revealed a thin trickle of blood running from his hairline, down his nose, to his lips. With a grin, he licked at the stream. “You are something else.” Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a syringe. Uncapping it, he stepped up to her again, jamming it quickly into her neck. “Time to say night night.” 

“You...” the words were heavy on her tongue, which also felt heavy now come to think of it. “...coming... for... you.” Her vision began to blur. Her whole body started to slump. 

Coming face-to-face with her again, Chase smirked. “Then let them come.”

* * *

Felicity had the worst headache in her life. This was worse than the time she was hungover after that single pot brownie and the resulting allergic reaction she got during her freshman year of college. Rolling over, she pressed her pounding forehead into the cold concrete floor. 

A brief sigh of relief slipped from her lips. 

Lifting her hand to feel her forehead, she paused at the cool feeling of metal around her wrists. “What...” Her voice was hoarse, as if she didn’t have anything to drink in days. Blinking her eyes open, her vision struggled to come into focus despite her glasses that rested on her face. Her head felt foggy, not just from the headache. 

Then a memory flashed to the front of her mind. “No. No, no, no.” Felicity panicked, her breathing becoming erratic. 

She sat up quickly. A groan ripped from her lips as the headache briefly became worse. Shutting her eyes against the pain, she waited for it to pass before slowly easing them open again. The first thing she spotted were the thick shackles around her wrist connected by a thick chain. Looking around frantically, her hope dwindled. The rest of the room was relatively bare. Not even a bed occupied the space. Just a grey concrete floor and three equally gray walls. 

_Wait... three?_

The third wall was clear with a view into the adjacent room. 

Scrambling forward, Felicity lifted her chained hands to the glass. Maybe there was someone in the other room that could help her. 

Unlike her room, which was barely lit to begin with, the other was almost completely bathed in darkness. The only light into the other cells was what little light from her cell bled through the clear wall. 

The edge of the light touched a lonely figure draped across the floor. From the broadness of their bare back, it appeared to be a man. Scars littered his body, including a few fresh-looking cuts and bruises, and a fresh scar on his... shoulder... 

“Oliver?” Hope and fear shook her voice as she tapped her palms against the glass. 

He looked lifeless, but chest rose and fell with shallow breaths, changing the shadow cast over his body. He wasn’t dead, but he didn’t look good either. She needed to get him to wake up. 

“Oliver!” She slammed her palms against the glass window this time. 

Slowly, he rolled over. His bloodied face came into the light. His blue eyes cracked open. There was nothing but sadness and regret in the dull depths of his gaze. As quickly as he came to, his eyes slipped closed again. 

A sob burst forth as Felicity slammed her chained hands frantically against the glass wall. “Oliver! Oliver! Don’t you dare die on me. You promised me a talk!” 

The sharp creak of metal met her ears as the door to her cell eased open. Dozens of ceiling lights lit up, momentarily blinding Felicity. Shielding her eyes with her hands, she backed away from the wall and door into the corner of her room. 

A slow clicking sound of heels entered the room, not more than a few steps though. Dropping her hands from her face, Felicity spotted a singular woman lingering just inside the cell door. She wore a crisp navy blazer and pencil skirt. Her hair was tied up in a pristine bun and her hands were linked behind her back. 

“Welcome to A.R.G.U.S. Ms. Smoak, my name is Amanda Waller. We have a lot to discuss.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh! Thank you for all the love on the previous chapter! I didn't expect to get that big of a reaction from that chapter, but you guys blew me away. Unfortunately, we're taking a brief pause this chapter. While we won't be tying up the loose ends from the previous chapter just yet, this one should answer a lot of long-standing questions that I've been avoiding until now ;)

**October 2012**

A chilly fall breeze blew by Felicity, forcing her to pull her black leather jacket a little tighter around her thin frame. 

“Clearly, you didn’t have enough to drink at the apartment before we left.” Alena teased, jabbing Felicity in the side gently. “Good thing I brought a little something for the road.” She slipped a flask out of her jean jacket pocket and dangled it in front of Felicity and Iris. 

“Yes girl. Give that here.” Iris eyed it greedily, opening it up and taking a long pull. Her face contorted slightly at the taste when she handed it over to Felicity. 

Gawking, Felicity looked around nervously. “Guys, you know we could get in trouble for this. What if the bouncers see us?” She whispered, shuffling herself in the line they stood in to conceal the flask with her body. 

“What are you, a freshman at her first party?” Rolling her eyes, Alena took the flask from Iris and took a sip herself. “Relaaaaax. People do this all the time. They literally don’t care. As long as we don’t use it inside, we’ll be fine.” She assured, shoving the flask into Felicity’s arms. 

Eying it hesitantly, Felicity took it from Alena and took a short pull. Sputtering, Felicity coughed quietly at the burning sensation attacking the back of her throat. “Oh my god, what did you put in here? Rubbing alcohol?” She whispered harshly. 

Alena grinned, sharing a look with Iris. “Not quite, but close enough. Nobody ever said it had to be good, it just has to do the job.” 

Glancing over the line, Iris smirked at Felicity. “Would you look at that, we’re almost at the front of the line for the bar now. Better finish it, Felicity.” She suggested innocently. 

Shoving the flask back at her friends, Felicity frantically shook her head with wide eyes. “Oh no, this is on you guys. I want no part in this. I’m not trying to die tonight. I have a big coding project due this week.” 

“This week!” Alena scoffed. “Girl, loosen up. You have time. Here,” she paused, taking a big gulp from the flask, leaving one hefty sip left. “The last bit is yours.” 

Wearily, Felicity took the flask from her and shook it. The sloshing liquid sounded a lot bigger than she hoped. 

“Bottoms up, girl.” Iris grinned, placing an encouraging hand under the flask and lifting it to Felicity’s lips. 

“If I die, this on you two.” She grumbled before knocking back the remaining liquid. Quickly shoving the offending object back in Alena’s hand, the two girls giggled at Felicity’s attempt to not make a face nor cough this time. 

Patting her back, Iris grinned brightly. “What a champ. Who knew you had it in you.” 

“I hate you both.” Felicity rasped out, blinking rapidly against her watering eyes. 

“I.D.’s please.” A gruff voice insisted over her shoulder. 

Spinning around, Felicity composed herself and fished into her bag for her wallet, quickly producing her I.D. for the bouncer. As soon as all three of the girls were cleared, they were ushered inside the bustling bar and quickly ambushed by lots of mingling bodies. 

“This place is insane.” Felicity yelled over the bumping music. 

Iris nodded enthusiastically. “We told you this place is great on Thursdays.” She yelled back, her eyes scanning the crowd eagerly. 

Alena looped her arm through Felicity’s with a knowing grin. “Go find Eddie. Felicity and I are going to grab a seat at the bar and drink our sorrows away as perpetually single women.” She teased with a wink at Felicity. 

Placing a hand on Felicity and Alena’s shoulders, Iris gave them a grateful smile. “I’ll come find you guys later.” And with that she disappeared into the crowd while Alena tugged Felicity towards the U-shaped bar. 

Just as they approached, two girls vacated their bar seats, so Felicity and Alena swooped in on them quickly. It took five more minutes until the busy bartender served them, with Alena ordering them both tall Long Island Ice Teas. Drinks finally in hand, the girls toasted to the evening. 

Thirty minutes in and Felicity hated to say it but she was really enjoying herself. The pair casually sipped their drinks from their perch at the bar, obnoxiously singing along to every ridiculous pop song that the DJ played that night. 

When the current song quieted down as it blended into another beat, Alena tapped Felicity on her shoulder. “Do you see that guy over there?” She whispered loudly into Felicity’s ear, nodding in the direction of the right side of the U-shaped bar. “He’s been looking over here all night.” She pulled away and wiggled her brows at Felicity. 

Holding Alena’s gaze briefly, Felicity glanced at the guy quickly before returning her skeptical look to her friend. “You must be blind. He’s clearly looking at you.” 

Smirking, Alena shook her head. “Nope, definitely you.” Her suggestion was quickly followed by another eyebrow wiggle and Alena taking a long sip from her drink. 

Pinching her lips together, Felicity turned to get a better look. Her gaze met pure blue. 

Oh, he was most definitely looking at her. 

Unfortunately, he looked like every other frat boy in here with his Starling City Rockets baseball jersey on and his swooping dirty blond hair. He was cute, but most definitely not her type. “He looks like every stereotypical Harvard frat boy. Not interested.” 

“Oh come on!” Alena groaned. “You’re probably not wrong, but he’s so cute, Felicity! And he’s clearly very interested. He can’t stop looking at you. You should do a power move and buy him a drink.” She winked, nudging her friend. 

Felicity rolled her eyes. “That would be amazing, but I swear I’m not interested. Plus, it’s our senior year and I don’t want to get involved in something that will probably end in a few months. Feel free to go talk to him instead, since you think he’s so cute.” 

“I would, but-” Alena paused and started gently slapping Felicity’s arm. “Oh my god. He got up. I think he’s coming over here.” 

Keeping her eyes forward, refusing to acknowledge him, Felicity shrugged. “I seriously doubt it.” 

Seconds later a warm chest brushed by her left shoulder, squeezing into the open seat next to her. “Hi my name is Oliver, have we met before?” He asked, holding out his hand for her to take. 

Behind her, a giddy Alena was gently prodding at Felicity to interact with him. 

Throwing a look at Alena over her shoulder, Felicity hesitantly took his hand and shook it. “Felicity, and I don’t think so.” 

Oliver grinned brightly at her. “You’re probably right, because I feel like I would remember meeting someone as captivating as you are.” 

Felicity nearly gagged. “Does that line usually work?” 

He tilted his head at her. “What do you mean?” 

“This,” she started, waving a hand up and down at him. “Does this actually work on women?” 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend.” Oliver held a hand up in defense. “I really think you’re beautiful and I wanted to come talk to you and get to know you a little bit. Let me buy you another drink and maybe we can go grab a booth over there and chat? No pretenses?” His smile changed. Gone was the playboy smirk, a softer grin replacing it. 

With the switch in demeanor, Felicity actually contemplated his offer. Eventually, she shook her head. “No thank you.” 

“Great, what are you-” Oliver paused, his excitement deflating quickly. “Wait, what?” 

Felicity gave him a wry grin and a shrug. “You seem nice enough, but I’m really not interested in someone that changes who they are just to please those that they’re around.” 

Oliver opened his mouth to retort, but it only remained open. Eventually closing it, he grabbed a napkin from the bar and a stray pen to jot something down on it. “You’re the first person to ever call me out on that. You’re remarkable, Felicity.” He grinned, sliding the napkin towards her. “If you change your mind and want to get to know the real me.” And with one final smile from Oliver, he disappeared to go back to his buddies. 

Before he was even out of earshot, Alena violently slapped Felicity’s right arm. 

“Ow. What was that for!” Felicity rounded on her friend. 

Frowning, Alena crossed her arms over her chest. “You know very well what that was for. You were incredibly rude to him. I expect you to text him tomorrow, apologize, and go on a date with that gorgeous hunk.” 

Glancing down at the napkin, Felicity picked it up and twirled it in her fingers. “All he wants is to get in my pants. He just can’t handle that a girl turned him down. I expect he’ll forget about me tomorrow and move on to chasing some other poor girl.” Crumpling up the napkin, she tossed it back onto the bar top, drained the rest of her drink, and hopped down from her seat. “I’m going to the bathroom, and when I get back, I want to go dance.” 

“You got it boss!” Alena called to her retreating figure as she discretely swiped the discarded napkin off the bar top.

* * *

**November 2012**

Smoothing out the short red dress Alena and Iris had chosen for her for tonight, Felicity fidgeted nervously in her seat. She regretted being so early the moment she got here and was led to the table to wait alone. Tucking her blond locks behind her ear, Felicity grabbed for the water on her right and took a long sip. This was already her second glass. At least, if this didn’t go well, she wouldn’t be lying if she used the bathroom excuse. 

Thrumming her fingers against the pristine white table cloth covering the hefty wooden table, she glanced around the way too fancy restaurant. When her gaze drifted to her left, her eyes met pure blue, just like that night almost two months ago. 

She scooted back from the table a little too hastily, her chair making a loud scraping noise against the floor. But Felicity barely noticed as she jumped up from her seat. 

“H-hi.” He grinned, tugging at his grey suit coat that perfectly matched his tailored grey slacks, which were perfectly complimented by a white button-down and a red tie to match her dress. “You look amazing.” Oliver breathed finally, stepping in to hug her. 

“You, uh, clean up well too.” She smiled against his shoulder. 

Like a proper gentleman, Oliver helped her back into his chair before taking his seat opposite her. Tugging at his tie, Oliver cleared his throat and smiled across the table at her. 

“Please tell me I’m not the only one that feels weird here.” Felicity laughed nervously, tugging at her hair again. 

Oliver leaned back against his seat, relaxing finally with a big exhale. “Oh my god, no. I don’t know why, but this feels so strange. I never thought you would say yes. I didn’t mentally prepare for that scenario.” He raked a hand through his now shorter hair, which he swears wasn’t because Felicity once said she hated his longer locks. 

“I didn’t think I would either, seeing as you basically harassed me almost daily for the last month and half, somehow became friends with my friends, and then wore me down until I agreed to this.” She teased, taking a coy sip of her water, staring at him over the rim. 

“I did no such thing! Alena was the one who texted me first. If anyone is to blame, it should be her. She conveniently told me where you like to study, Ms. MIT, and I took the opening.” He shrugged innocently, holding his hands up in his defense. 

Rolling her eyes, she fixed him with a look. “Not to mention finding out my place of work, suddenly appearing at MIT parties, showing up at my apartment when I’m the only one home claiming you got the wrong address. You’re lucky I didn’t report you for stalking me, Mr. Harvard.” 

Grinning, Oliver leaned forward, crossing his arms over the table. “You like me.” His blue eyes held hers. 

Eventually, Felicity had to look away when heat rushed to her cheeks. “I do not.” Lord, she sounded like she was five. 

“Hey.” Oliver’s voice was soft now as he reached across the short table to take her hand. “I’m so grateful you did say yes, Felicity. I meant it that first night when I said you are remarkable. You saw right through me. And, for the first time, I wanted to show someone the real me.” 

His declaration pulled Felicity’s gaze back to him, her mouth falling open. “I still don’t understand though, why me?” Her voice was small, afraid. 

Oliver shook his head and mumbled something under his breath before fixing her with a smile. “You’re the smartest, most genuine, selfless, and loving person I’ve meet. You’re probably too good for me to be honest, but I can’t bring myself to let someone as amazing as you go. You make me want to be the best version of myself.” 

“Wow.” Felicity breathed, tearing her gaze away from his to break the building tension. “This is a lot.” She remarked with a genuine laugh. 

“Oh no. I’m sorry. I probably shouldn’t have bared my soul to you on our first date. I just wanted you to know I’m all in and-” 

“No!” She interrupted quickly, meeting his gaze with wide eyes again. “Not that. I guess, well yeah, that’s a lot too, but I meant the restaurant. This is just way too fancy.” She laughed, squeezing his fingers still cradled in her hand. 

Looking around, Oliver breathed out a soft laugh and shook his head. “You’re right. I guess I tried too hard to make this special.” Pausing, Oliver’s brow furrowed as a thought crossed his mind. “Screw it, let’s get out of here.” He pushed back from the table, tugging at her hand. 

“Really? But this place had to be incredibly difficult to get a table at so last minute, I wouldn’t want to-” 

“I’m not going to lie, I’m glad I got to see you in this amazing dress,” His soft gaze swept over her neckline, “but I have a better idea for our real first date. Did you bring a coat?” 

Nodding rapidly, Felicity jumped up from her seat as they went hand-in-hand and grinning stupidly at each other to fetch their coats from the coat check. 

A short five-minute drive across town, found Felicity and Oliver seated next to each other at a picnic table, dressed to the nines minus Oliver’s tie now, outside a little seafood shack on the Boston waterfront. It was a fairly mild November evening for Boston standards, but the chilly wind whipping up from the ocean had them huddling together as they consumed the best lobster rolls in the city for under $10. 

Mid-bite of the amazing sandwich, Felicity felt his eyes on her. Tipping her head up, she found his sandwich discarded as he watched her eat. “What?” She said around a mouthful of food that she quickly swallowed. 

Lifting a hand, he brushed his fingers over her cheek, tucking a stray lock of hair whipping around in the wind behind her ear. “You’re remarkable.” 

“You need to stop saying that, or else.” She threatened with a wide grin, her eyes dropping to his lips. 

“Or else, what?” He leaned in a little, the tip of his nose brushing hers. 

Licking her lips, she tilted her head to the right for him. “Or else I might think you actually mean it.” 

“I do. Always.” He closed the distance, their mouths parted, lips gently closing around each other’s in the sweetest first kiss.

* * *

**August 2013**

Waiting in the doorway for a minute, Oliver couldn’t fight the grin tugging at his lips. 

Felicity was perched at her pristine desk, lost in admiring the simple decorative fern perched at the corner with a small note card clutched in one hand, the other toying absently with a red pen clutched between her teeth. 

Biting his bottom lip, Oliver fought off the grin momentarily as he knocked on the door frame. “Felicity Smoak?” 

Jumping in her seat, she spun to face him. The biggest, brightest smile lit up her face. 

Oliver’s heart thumped happily in his chest. “My name is Oliver Queen, I wanted to welco-” 

“Shut up.” Felicity demanded, tossing away the pen and note. “Get over here and kiss me.” She rose from her chair and rounded the L-shaped desk. 

On command, Oliver took two large strides, wrapped his arms around her slim waist and crashed his lips to hers, though he never stopped smiling. 

Raising onto her tip toes and wrapping her arms around his neck, Felicity grinned against his lips, pecking them with repeated kisses. “This-” she started between kisses, “is a much better-” two more kisses, “welcome than whatever you were trying to do before.” She giggled against his lips. 

Leaning back, Oliver pouted. “I was just trying to be professional. You are my employee after all.” 

Tsk-ing, Felicity rolled her eyes. “Not yet. You may have a higher job title than me, but I don’t work directly for you.” 

Dropping his forehead against hers, he groaned. “I know. I work in HR, instead. Even this looks more fun and I have no idea what you do, it’s that advanced.” 

Brushing her fingers through his hair, starting from his forehead, Felicity tipped her chin up and placed a tender kiss on his lips. “It won’t be for long, just a few months. Then you get to move on to the Marketing Department.” 

“Yeah, that will be better.” He murmured against her lips. “I don’t know why my dad is making me do this.” He separated from her, taking a seat in the guest chair. 

Stepping between his wide-spread legs, Felicity smoothed her hands over his shoulders, gently massaging them. 

Oliver’s head lolled backwards, his eyes fluttering shut and his hand gripping the back of her thighs. 

“Your dad just wants to make sure you’re ready to take over when it’s time.” She supplied softly. “I think it’s a great opportunity. Build relationships with the head staff at each major department, which you’re so excellent at doing. Those are the people who are going to support you when you’re the new CEO and when times are tough here.” 

Tilting his chin up, he rested it against her stomach and peered up at her. “Why are you so smart?” He pondered with a smile. “Maybe you should be CEO instead of me.” 

Shaking her head, Felicity wrapped her arms loosely around his neck. “I’m happy here in Applied Sciences. This is my dream. Plus, we’ll make the ultimate duo: super-hot CEO as the face of the company and his sexy tech genius that actually makes the products he sells.” 

Biting his lower lip, Oliver’s hands skimmed up the back of her thighs to cup her ass. “Sexy is right.” 

Felicity’s jaw dropped. Reaching behind her, she slapped at his hands. “Oliver! This is highly inappropriate.” She scolded quietly, though mirth and excitement shined in her eyes. 

“Well, excuse me.” He teased. “Says the woman who practically jumped me when I walked in here.” 

“I did no such thing.” Felicity scoffed through the grin that threatened to take over her face. 

Rising from his seat, Oliver grinned down at her now, his nose brushing hers. “What do you say we Christen the new office.” 

Biting her lip, Felicity stared him down, then flicked her eyes to the door that was still slightly ajar. “Close and lock it.” She whispered. 

Oliver never moved quicker, gently closing the door so as not to arouse suspicion before turning the lock. Turning back around, Oliver found Felicity delicately placing the fern on a nearby filing cabinet. Grinning, he raised a brow at her. “Do you like it?” 

“I love it.” She beamed, taking her perch on the edge of her desk. “And I love you, but get over here before I have to tell you a third time today.” 

Grinning, Oliver closed the gap quickly. “Yes ma’am.”

* * *

**February 2014**

Stepping up to the large, ornate wooden doors, Felicity held her breath as she rang the doorbell. 

The wait until the door creaked open felt like an eternity. 

“Oh, Ms. Felicity. It’s so good to see you.” Raisa welcomed warmly, albeit laced with lingering sadness too, as she scooped up Felicity in a big hug. “It’s been too long, my dear.” 

Felicity squeezed her tightly, both lingering in the much-needed embrace. Eventually, she stepped back, blinking back some tears. “Where is he?” 

“In the study.” Raisa offered, a new sadness passing over her face. “Go to him. He needs you.” 

Smiling tiredly, Felicity placed a warm hand on Raisa’s shoulder. “Thank you. I hope so.” Dropping her hand, her smile fell quickly as she turned away from the kind motherly figure and trudged up the ornate staircase to the second-floor landing. 

With the study at the very end of the hallway, each step she took felt like it took her nowhere. Eventually, though, she reached the simple door, which looked no different from all the proceeding doors, that concealed the study. Knocking softly, she didn’t bother waiting before entering. 

The room was barely lit by a single lamp in the back corner. Soft rain pitter-pattered against the glass window panes. Peering into the room, it wasn’t hard to find the thing that was out of place. 

Despite everything lately, tears sprang to her eyes at the sight of his crumpled form. With quick steps, Felicity rounded the sturdy oak desk and dropped to her knees in front of his hunched form in the leather desk chair. “Oliver. Look at me.” She whispered, sliding her hand up to cup his cheek. 

“You shouldn’t be here.” There was little to no emotion in his voice now. He sounded so unlike the happy man she grew to know and love over the last two years. 

“I haven’t seen you in weeks, Oliver. Since your mother’s funeral. You refuse to come home to the loft anymore, and I had to find out from Raisa that you’ve been hiding out here this whole time.” She pleaded, placing her other hand on the forearm of the hand that clutched a barely touched tumbler of Scotch. “I’m just trying to be here for you.” 

Closing his eyes, he clenched them tightly at her words. “I can’t let you do that. I don't deserve it.” 

Tears welled up in her eyes. Taking his face in both hands now, she applied just enough pressure to bring him face-to-face with her. “Why not?” Her words were forceful. “You started to push me away ever since your father died four months ago. Now that your mother is gone too, you aren’t letting anyone in anymore. Why? This is the time that we should all stick together... you, Thea, Tommy, me... but you’re fighting that. Why, Oliver?” 

“I don’t want your help.” His eyes popped open, the first sparks of fire finally flickering in them, but for all the wrong reasons. 

Felicity reared back at his answer. A lone tear slipped down her face as her hands fell from his jaw, landing heavily in her lap. “You don’t mean that. We’re supposed to be in this together.” 

Clenching his jaw, Oliver turned his head away from her. “Things change. People change.” The fire was gone again, replaced by the pain festering under the surface. 

“Why are you doing this?” Felicity pleaded, shaking her head. “We tell each other everything. Lean on each other when times are tough. Am I not enough anymore?” 

His eyes widened as he quickly snapped his gaze back to her. Taking her hands in his, he shook his head. “No. That’s not it. You were always enough. You wouldn’t understand...” 

“I’ve lost a parent too, Oliver. He didn’t die, maybe, I don’t really know or care, but I still know what it’s like to lose a family member. It’s not exactly the same, so help me understand. I love you, Oliver, and I can’t stand to see you suffering like this.” She tried, squeezing his hands, desperately trying to hold on. 

Tearing his hands from hers, he scooted away from her and rose to his feet. Pacing to the other side of the room, he kept his back to her. “I can’t do that for to you, Felicity. Not this time. I can’t hurt you like that.” 

A sob wracked her body, which she tried to cover with her hand. Rising to her feet, angry tears streamed down her face. “You’re already hurting me though!” She seethed. “Can’t you see that?” 

Turning around, for the first time, Oliver let Felicity see the tears in his eyes. “I know.” 

“I can't do this anymore.” She shook her head in astonishment. “Real relationships are about inclusion... leaning on your partner when things get complicated. They’re built on love, trust, and vulnerability. I don’t think you’re ready for any of that.” Thick tears rolled down her cheeks as she turned for the door. 

“Felicity-” He called out, extending his hand to her. 

With a hand on the door, Felicity reluctantly turned to look at him over her shoulder. “No. You don’t get to do that.” She shook her head. “You can’t have it both ways, Oliver. When you are really ready to let me in and treat me like your true partner, I’ll be there to listen.” Felicity looked away as she said her last words, unable to bare the hurt reflected in Oliver’s eyes any longer. With a deep breath, she forced herself to walk out the door. 

Despite the thick tears rolling down her cheeks, despite the ache in her heart that tried to pull her back to him, it took everything Felicity had to keep going forward during the painfully long walk down a hallway that never seemed to end, especially when the shattering of a glass tumbler echoed down the hall behind her retreating form.

* * *

**March 2014**

Standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of his big, grand CEO office, Oliver stared out over Starling City. An office that used to feel like home, in a city that used to feel like home. 

With a sigh, Oliver pulled out his phone from his pocket that had started buzzing. When he saw it was Thea calling, he managed to crack a smile. “Hey, Speedy. How’s school? I can’t wait for you to come home for Spring Break soon.” He answered as he lifted the phone to his ear. 

_“Hey, bro. It’s okay. Junior year sucks.”_ Then, there was a long pause on Thea’s end. 

“Thea? Are you still there?” He checked. 

_“Yeah, I’m here. About Spring Break...,”_ she started hesitantly, _“I don’t think I’m coming home.”_

“Oh.” Oliver’s stomach fell. Lifting his heavy feet, he forced himself over to take a seat on the guest couches. “Well, then, I’ll make sure this summer is the best ever then. We’ll do so many things like go see the Rockets-” 

_“No, Ollie. That’s not exactly what I meant.”_ Another long pause. _“I don’t think I’m coming home for a while.”_

Oliver slumped back against the couch cushions. “Speedy...” 

A long sigh met his plea. _“I can’t. Home just isn’t the same anymore. And you’re not doing much better yourself. I just can't handle be around that right now.”_

“What. No. Please, Thea. I promise I’m better. Things are settling down-” 

_“Then why haven’t you gone to see Felicity.”_ She cut-in sharply. 

Leaning forward, Oliver put his face in his free hand. 

_“I can’t believe you.”_ Thea admonished. _“She’s the best thing that ever happened to you. Do you know how bad she’s hurting? How bad we’re all hurting?”_

“Speedy.” He said warningly. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

_“Maybe not.”_ She fired back quickly. _“But you need to hear this from somebody, so I guess it’s going to be me since everyone else walks on egg shells around you. You’ve been a shitty brother lately and you’ve been even shittier to Felicity. All she wanted was to help you. That’s all any of us wanted. But you pushed us all away.”_

“I have my reasons.” Oliver defended sharply. 

_“I doubt it.”_ Thea scoffed. _“I doubt there’s any reason good enough to push your literal soulmate out of your life, for you to stop talking to your best friend Tommy, or for you to run your only remaining family out of town because you’re so unbearable to be around.”_

“What?” Oliver’s voice wavered, the truth making him pause. 

_“I needed you too, you know.”_ Thea’s voice was watery now. _“They were my parents too. But you didn’t think about anybody but yourself. I just wanted my big brother to comfort me, just like you needed Felicity to comfort you, but I guess we’re all a little disappointed now, huh.”_

“I’m sorry, Thea.” Oliver croaked out, scrubbing a hand over his face. “I couldn’t be that for you. I had to unexpectedly take over QC, deal with Mom and Dad’s finances and assets. I needed to make sure you could finish school.” 

_“That’s such bull shit.”_ She sobbed angrily. _“We’re family. You always make time for family. The company will still be there. I couldn’t care less if we kept our assets. And I’m sure Mom and Dad made sure I was covered for school. I just wanted my brother.”_

“Thea, please, understand-” 

_“Ollie, I love you. Always.”_ She interrupted softly. _“You can always call me, and I’ll always pick up. But I think you need some time to grow up. Which is ironic coming from your sister that’s younger than you.”_ She laughed bitterly. _“You need to make a change, figure out who you are. Please, for all of us, including Felicity, remember what’s important to you too. Because it’s not too late to save what you have with her.”_

“I’ll think about it.” He sighed, leaning his head back against the back of the couch. 

_“This is your last chance. You need to get yourself together, bro. Please.”_ Her words were firm. But what hurt Oliver the most was how true they were. _“Good bye, Ollie. I’ll see you around. Take care of yourself.”_

“Bye, Speedy. Be safe, okay. I promise I’m here if you need me.” He pleaded his case one last time. 

Thea sighed. _“Sure.”_ And with that, the end call tone rang loudly in his ear.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That last chapter was rough, wasn't it?! It answered a lot of your burning questions about their past, but definitely left you with so many more. I didn't want to answer the additional questions it brought up because this short but sweet chapter should finally answer them all!
> 
> Enjoy :)

_“Rise and shine, Queen.”_

A shocking chill ran through his body. His lungs convulsed desperately for air the instant the cold water splashed across his face. Gasping, Oliver’s eyes shot open. Scrambling into a seated position, his eyes searched the room for the threat as he attempted to catch his breath. 

Suddenly, the lights went on in his cell, forcing Oliver to squint and shield himself against the brightness. After a few blinks, he lowered his hands to get a good look at his visitor. A snarl curled his lips. “Waller.” He growled, rising to his feet. 

“Good evening, Mr. Queen.” Came her annoyingly even tone. The only hint of emotion from her was the coy smile curling the corner of her mouth. 

Stepping towards her, the chains binding his hands and feet to a steel rod cemented into the floor tugged painfully. Waller remained just far-enough out of his reach. “What is it that you want from me?” He pressed, his gaze boring into hers. 

The smile widened, her eyes sliding to the left toward the currently empty cell. “Oh, it’s not you that we need anything from.” 

His face paled, shoulders slumping. “No.” He whispered, shaking his head. “WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER!?” He roared, shooting forward, fighting with everything he had against the chains. Teeth clenched, he sneered at her. “I swear to god, if you lay a hand on her...” All the anger and hatred were gone from those words and replaced with a deadly promise. 

Folding her hands together in front of herself, Waller tilted her head to her left. “See for yourself.” 

On cue, the door to the adjacent cell on the other side of the glass flung open. Felicity was tossed roughly into the cell, stumbling a few steps until she landed painfully on her hands and knees. 

“Felicity!” Oliver scrambled to the glass, but the chains pulled him short, painfully forcing him to his knees. “Felicity, are you okay?” He begged quietly, searching her for any sign of injury. 

Her head snapped up, relief in her eyes. Crawling over to the glass, Felicity rested a chained hand on it. “I’m fine.” 

Oliver wished he could say he was as relieved as she looked. Furrowing his brows together, he turned back to Waller. “Please. Whatever you want. I’ll give you anything if you just let her go.” 

“Oliver, no!” 

Waller smirked, shaking her head. “Like I said, it’s not you we want. You’re nothing but bait to me, Queen.” Sliding her gaze to her left, Waller turned her attention to Felicity. “Consider my offer, Ms. Smoak. I’ll be back soon for my answer.” Waller spun on her heel, gliding out of Oliver’s cell, the haunting click of her heels following her out. 

When the electronic lock on his door re-activated, Oliver looked back to Felicity, scrambling forward and fighting against his chains to get even a little closer to the glass. “Felicity...” His voice was strained from his effort. Finally, he ceased his fight, slumping over on his knees. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I was supposed to protect you...” 

“It’s okay.” Her voice was soft, surprisingly soft considering the circumstances. “I’ll figure it out. We’ll make it out of here.” 

Lifting his head again, he focused his pleading gaze on her eyes which were laced with more uncertainty than she said those words with. “What does Waller want you to do?” 

Biting her lip, Felicity avoided his gaze. “It’s nothing to worry about.” 

“Felicity, please.” He begged. “What does she want? Let me help you.” His question was firmer. 

Whipping her head back around, she met his gaze with a raised brow. “Oh, just like you let me help you all those years ago when I asked for the very same thing.” Clamping her mouth shut, Felicity covered her mouth in shock. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. Now’s not the time-” 

“No. Now’s probably the only time we’re going to get to do this.” He interrupted with a sigh. Pinching his lips together, Oliver turned away this time. “And I wish I could say you’re wrong.” He murmured, clenching his fists in frustration at himself for his mistakes. 

“Why did you do that to me? To us?” Felicity’s voice was small. 

When Oliver forced his gaze back to her, the uncertainty in her gaze snatched his breath from his chest. “I-” He tried, but the words failed him on the first attempt. 

Sighing, all the strength left his body, his shoulders slumping and his hands falling into his lap with a clank of his chains against the floor. “When my dad died, it was unexpected. The health problems that is. My mom...” His voice faltered. Taking a deep breath, he found his words again. “My mom’s death wasn’t an accident.” 

Felicity’s mouth fell open, brow furrowing deeply as she processed the information. “What? How do you know?” 

“The day after her death I was sent an anonymous letter. It detailed her and my father’s involvement in a group called the Undertakers. They were a group of powerful people that controlled the outcomes of events. My parents didn’t have a big role in the group, but they did business with them on occasion.” Pausing, all the emotion slipped off his face, his eyes staring blankly at the floor now. “My father was the original target, apparently. But his untimely death forced the group to switch targets.” 

“Why? What did your parents do to cause that?” She prompted softly. “Why didn’t you take it to the police?” 

“I tried. I really did. But the cops must have been just as dirty because they told me no one would believe this and then threw the letter away.” He met her gaze, silently begging her to believe him. “Turns out QC was struggling long before I tried to take over. My parents were slowly losing money, so that’s why they went to the Undertakers in the first place. Apparently, they stole a little more money than was promised to them in the deal after one of their last transactions. The money went to Thea’s college tuition...” He whispered, his eyes squeezing shut. “I couldn’t believe it. Everything I knew as a kid was a lie. I didn’t know who my parents were anymore. And I couldn’t ask them. That was the worst part. So, I started to question everything...” 

Gasping, Felicity covered her mouth. “And you stopped trusting people... because the trust you had in your parents was destroyed that day.” She supplied. 

Nodding, Oliver lifted his gaze back to her. “That doesn’t make what I did right, and I know that. I knew it from the moment I made the decision. I was so confused and lost in my own grief at the time, and I needed to figure things out.” 

“I still don’t understand though, why did you completely disappear? I get taking time to grieve over such a serious revelation, but what happened after that?” Felicity pressed forward, still searching for answers. 

Sighing, Oliver sat there quietly for a moment, staring down at his hands. “I really did want to come back to you and Thea as soon as possible, but things got in the way. I wanted answers. I was angry too. So angry.” A bitter laugh slipped from his lips as the softness of a fond memory flashed behind his eyes. “You would have been proud. After I found the note, I put what little computer and hacking knowledge you taught me to use. I started to compile a list of names. People who were part of the organization. I didn’t know how at the time, but I was going to take them down.” 

Raising her hand to the glass, Felicity shook her head. “Oh Oliver...” 

“During my search, about two months after my mother's death, apparently I got too deep and A.R.G.U.S. found me. QC was failing, so I took it as a sign. I asked to join A.R.G.U.S.” Shaking his head he managed a weak smile. “I remember thinking this was my chance. With their resources and previous research, I compiled a list of dozens of names. Everyone from janitors and drug dealers to CEOs and socialites. All of them deeply involved in the organization. After two years in the program, I finally got my own task force. We’ve been silently taking the Undertakers down for the last few years. I thought that if I could take them down, I would be free of the burden my parents’ death created. Everything would return to normal, I could come back to you, see Thea again, meet finally Tommy’s baby boy...” 

He took a shaky breath, his shoulders rising and falling deeply. “I was so wrong.” He whispered. “I tossed away everything good in my life because I didn’t trust _myself_. I didn’t know who I was anymore, so I tried to find answers in all the wrong people and places. I should have...” Thick tears welled up in his eyes. 

“I know.” Felicity whispered, holding back a few tears of her own. “What you did to us was wrong, Oliver. But there's no sense in dwelling on the what ifs. Maybe we would have still ended up here even if you never got directly involved with A.R.G.U.S. Maybe we would both be dead too at the hands of the Undertakers. Maybe we wouldn’t even be together anymore anyways. It’s not about what we could have done differently in the past, but what we’ll do differently going forward.” 

“We would have still been together.” Oliver said firmly, not a shred of doubt on his face and his determined gaze focused on his cell door. After a heavy pause, Oliver turned his soft eyes to her. “And I promise, if we get out of here, if you give me a chance-” 

Felicity’s cell door swung open, clanging loudly against the metal wall behind it. 

Both Oliver and Felicity’s heads turned sharply at the sound. 

A massive guard strolled from the door to Felicity in three large strides. “Time to go.” He gruffly commanded. Wrapping a single hand around Felicity’s bicep, he dragged her off the floor onto her feet. 

“Felicity!” Oliver struggled against his chains, the metal tearing into his wrist, drawing fresh blood that ran down his forearms. “Felicity!” He roared again, rising to his feet. 

“Oliver!” She pleaded, reaching out to him with her free hand. “Let me go!” She struggled against the grip on her arm 

“Felicity, hang on!” He yelled after her. “I promise I’ll come for you! Just hang on!” He begged desperately as her door slammed shut on him, the lights going out in their joint cells minus one overhead lamp in his cell, bathing him in near darkness again. 

********** 

It wasn’t long before Felicity was roughly sat in a chair in a nearby interrogation room of sorts. The massive guard that had come to fetch her remained by the door, staring silently over her head. Frowning, Felicity leaned back in the uncomfortable metal chair to await her guest. 

They kept her waiting, no doubt as a scare tactic. It took 15 uncomfortably silent minutes before Waller finally strolled through the door and took a seat across from her. Folding her hands together on top of the metal table, Waller pinned her with an expectant look. “So, now that you and Queen have had a chance to talk... have you considered my offer?” 

Leaning forward again, Felicity mimicked Waller’s pose. “I need to know what you want me to do. I might not even be of any use to you.” 

Waller’s eyes squinted slightly at Felicity, sizing her up. “I’ve had an eye on you for a while, Ms. Smoak.” She began cryptically. “I know we offered you a position a long time ago when you developed your super code at MIT, but I’ve been watching you personally since you came to Starling. You are quite impressive, and it’s a shame we didn’t acquire you when we had the chance. You would have been useful to us from the beginning.” 

“I never would have helped you.” Felicity spat. “And that still doesn’t answer my question. What do you want me to do?” 

Waller snorted. “No. Of course you wouldn’t. Which is why we needed a little collateral to get you to agree to help us. I had no idea how valuable Queen would be to me until I discovered your real connection to him.” She paused to stand, pacing behind the table now as she spoke. “You’ve seen the files. I let you have them so you could familiarize yourself with our work for this very moment. So, you must know why our experiments are failing. Don’t you?” 

Pinching her lips together, Felicity let out a deep sigh. “The code you’re using to automate the synthesizing process doesn’t work. It doesn’t keep the different matrices stable enough for the serum to combine properly. Hence, the defect that’s killing people.” 

Turning to Felicity, Waller grinned widely. “It’s very simple, Felicity. Help us fix the code and this will all go away” Linking her hands behind her back, Waller strode forward to loom over Felicity. “So, what’s your answer?” 

Felicity’s eyes flew around the room as hundreds of thoughts passed through her brain about all the possible scenarios for each of her answers. Finally, she locked eyes with the she-devil in front of her with nothing but contempt in her bright blue eyes for the situation she was being put in. 

“Yes.”


	10. Chapter 10

Accompanied by more than ten heavily armed guards, Felicity was ushered down the halls of A.R.G.U.S. with Amanda Waller leading the charge. They went through multiple layers of security to reach the sector where the Meta Program resided. Each electronic door they passed through deepened the worry in her brow. After what Felicity counted was five secure doors, they entered a large room containing the lab, complete with a state-of-the-art computer system in a corner of the room near the door. 

The guard on her immediate right grabbed her elbow and directed her to the computer, shoving her at the chair. Sneering over her shoulder at the man, Felicity took a seat and made herself comfortable. “Well. How am I going to log in? I don’t have credentials.” She stated plainly to Waller. 

Waller’s smirk faltered slightly as she stepped forward. Placing her thumb on a digital reader next to the computer, the bio-scanner went to work, and seconds later the desktop came to life. “The only files accessible on this computer are those that you need to complete your task. You have two hours to fix the code before we run our first test with your changes. That should be plenty of time for someone of your... skills.” Waller suggested, spinning on her heel. “I have... other matters to attend to. You will be under constant surveillance by these men. If you try anything, you know the price you pay.” She called over her shoulder without so much as a look back at Felicity as she breezed out of the room. 

Pursing her lips, Felicity spun around to the desktop. “Ice queen.” She mumbled under her breath as she went to work pulling up the files. Two hours was more than enough time to fix the code. She could probably do it in thirty minutes. She just hoped it would be plenty of time to enact her other plan. 

Cracking her knuckles, Felicity pulled up two command windows next to the window containing the main code. Flicking her eyes to the guards avidly watching her and their surroundings, she began to type in the first command window. It took some work and pinging off multiple satellites, but she finally got a signal out. The slightest smile curled the corner of her mouth, but her typing continued as though she was unphased. 

Now, to direct the signal. Searching through the satellite data, Felicity found the location she wanted to target. Hitting enter, she waited, eyes boring into the ‘Establishing signal...’ message lingering in the command window. 

Forcing her attention away while the satellites did their job, Felicity turned her attention to the code in front of her. Scanning through the material, she paused to make comments at key locations where she needed to make her edits. It would be tricky, and she only had one shot to make it right, but she had faith in her skills. 

A _ding_ made her jump in her seat. Sliding her eyes to the command window, she forced herself to remain calm. She had a connection. 

“What is that noise?” The guard over her shoulder asked brusquely, peering at the screen. 

“It’s a testing window. I test my edits to the code here without actually executing it. That noise meant I did something right.” Felicity rushed out. 

The man was silent for a minute. Then, he gave a grunt of disinterest before turning back around and resuming his guard duties. 

With the tiniest exhale, Felicity turned back around to the screens to resume her own work. Entering the command window, she typed out her secure message. Hitting send, Felicity sent out a prayer with the message before closing out the window. Now, it was all about buying her and Oliver enough time to stay alive. 

Returning her attention to the Meta serum code, Felicity began her diligent work, meticulously editing the algorithm and rearranging the sequence of events. Every few minutes, she glanced at the clock in the corner of the screen. Cursing under her breath, Felicity went full steam ahead attacking the code. Time was ticking by faster than she wanted and it was going to be down to the wire for her to finish implementing her changes. 

The next time she looked at the clock, she only had five minutes until Waller was due back in the lab to conduct their first test of her new code. Glancing nervously at the door and her entourage of guards, Felicity couldn’t help but nibble on her lower lip. She went back to putting the finishing touches on the new code, but that wasn’t what concerned her. 

Five minutes passed in the blink of an eye, and the electronic lock on the door buzzed open before Waller click-clacked her way into the room, followed by three doctors. “I expect you’re finished, Ms. Smoak.” She commented, stepping up next to Felicity so she hovered over the blonde. 

Never letting her eyes leave the screen, Felicity typed out the final lines of her changes. “Of course. I don’t go back on my word.” 

“Good.” Came her brusque reply. Spinning on her heel, Waller redirected her attention to the guards. “You five,” she nodded at those nearest them, “undress and prepare for an injection.” Her head tipped to their right where five gurneys resided. 

As the men took their places on the beds, the doctors went to work prepping them and inserting the needle that attached them to the machine that mixed the different components together for the final serum. Just a few minutes later, one of the doctors gave them a thumbs up and a nod. 

“All right, Ms. Smoak. Let’s see if you really did hold up your end of the bargain.” Waller goaded with a grin. “Just hit start.” She commanded. 

Biting her lip, Felicity selected start on the interface of the coding menu. Machines all around her whirred to life, mixing, blending, and transporting the serum through various machines before being injected into the “patients”. 

Sliding her gaze to Waller, she only glanced at her briefly before going back to watching the process unfold in front of her. “How long until we know if it works?” 

“Scared?” Waller scoffed. “Patients went into cardiac arrest within the first minute after the final dose of the serum is injected and were typically presumed dead within three minutes.” She answered flatly. 

Nodding, Felicity bit her lip and clutched her hands together tightly in her lap. 

One-by-one, machines went silent around them and the final drops of liquid drained from the tubes into the soldiers’ arms. Holding her breath, Felicity’s eyes glanced at the clock. One minute. 

All eyes were on the soldiers. The only sound in the room was the beep of the vital monitors, which remained regulated. 

One minute in, no change. 

Two minutes, nothing abnormal. 

Three minutes, Waller finally stepped forward to greet the men. “Congratulations.” A slight grin tugged at her lips as she folded her hands behind her back. “How do you all feel?” 

Slowly, each man rose into a sitting position. A few of them flexing their hands and other muscles with big grins on their faces. 

“Great.” “Like a new man.” “Powerful.” Came a chorus of their responses. 

For the first time, Wallers grin became a true smile. Though it faltered quickly when she checked the smart watch on her wrist. The lines in her face changed briefly, her brow furrowing and lips pinching together. Waller’s eyes flickered up to her, the momentary distress had disappeared. Clearing her throat, she turned to exit the room suddenly. “Something has some up. You will remain here until I can come back and decide what to do with you now. Doctors, prepare to inject the remaining guards present.” With that, Waller strode from the room, the door slamming shut behind her. 

Felicity’s heart fluttered. Taking deep breaths, she fought to keep her composure. 

Unprompted, a command window popped up on her screen. The blinking cursor stared her down as her heart beat faster. 

‘Ready.’ Popped up. 

With a grin, Felicity stealthily entered the other command window she left open the entire time and hit enter. Behind her, Felicity’s ears picked up the faint unlocking of the door, though the sound went unnoticed by the other soldiers and the doctors milling about the room as they prepared for the next round of injections. 

Her heart beat out of her chest. Tapping her fingers on the desk, her eyes flickered between the armed agents around her and the door. 

“Ms. Smoak. Please start the injection.” A doctor instructed. 

Starting at the request, Felicity blinked a few times before collecting her thoughts again. “Oh, right. Yes.” She mumbled, hitting the ‘Start’ button again. 

Just as the process started up again, there was a loud bang to her left followed by the heavy footsteps of two people breaking into the room. 

“Felicity, get down. Nyssa take the left flank, I’ll get the rest.” 

Despite the chaos about to ensue, a grin pulled at her lips. Dig got her message. 

Heeding his instructions, she dove under the desk. The sound of guns loading met her ears from her hiding spot. Bodies crashed into tables, glass shattered upon impact, and the occasional gunshot which made her flinch slightly. Grunts of exertion became groans of pain as agent after agent was subdued by the highly trained pair. 

When noises of the scuffle finally quieted, two pairs of heavy boots appeared in front of her. Bending over, Dig’s grinning face appeared in her vision and he held out his hand to help her up. “Good work, Felicity. How did you manage to get the message to us so discretely?” 

Taking his hand, she crawled out from under her desk and rose to her feet. Brushing a few strands of hair out of her face, she grinned at him. “They were stupid to give me access to their network and only leave these meat-heads to watch me. They had no idea what I was doing right under their noses.” 

“And, I saw those men being injected with the serum, but there was nothing special about them. Why didn’t it work?” He tilted his head, raising a brow at her. 

“That was honestly my finest work.” She puffed out her chest. “I rearranged the order of the injection process to actually neutralize the effect of the serum without killing the host so nothing seemed too suspicious.” 

Placing a hand on her shoulder, Dig beamed. “Smart girl.” 

“John, we need to go. Our window to get her out of here is closing.” Nyssa stepped up to them after securing the last doctor. 

“Right.” Dig nodded, the seriousness of the situation reflecting in his features again. “Felicity, I’m going to lead the way. Nyssa will have your back. If someone engages us, duck into the nearest hallway until Nyssa and I give the all clear. Things are chaos out there right now and it’s hard to tell who is on what side. I promise, we’ll get you out of here.” Turning, Dig loaded his gun and started for the door. 

Reaching out quickly, Felicity grabbed his arm to stop him. “Oliver.” She pleaded. “Where is he? Did you find him? I’m not leaving until we find him.” 

Understanding cut through the seriousness on his face. “Lyla sent a team to extract him while she deals with Waller. I can’t guarantee he’s out, but I promised Lyla I would get you out first. When I fulfill that promise, I’ll go back for him.” 

There was a sinking feeling in her gut, but Felicity nodded. She trusted Dig, with her life and Oliver’s, so she needed to trust him now. 

“Okay, let’s get you out of here.” Pulling the door open slowly, Dig peeked out into the hallway to check the status of their path before ushering Felicity and Nyssa to follow him. 

Most of the process was eerily quiet as they made their way down the hallways of A.R.G.U.S. “Okay, the door for the rendezvous point is just up ahead. I’ll make sure-” 

As they passed a hallway not ten feet from the door, Dig was taken to the floor by an agent. 

Jumping out of the way, Felicity crashed into Nyssa behind her. 

The woman spun her around, and Felicity’s wide eyes met hers. “Felicity, go.” She commanded quietly, shoving her toward the door before engaging another agent that decided he wanted a piece of the action. 

Looking over her shoulder at Nyssa and Dig, she hesitated. “Dig-” 

“GO!” He grunted, flipping over the man on top of him and pinning him down. “There are people on the other side waiting for you. I promise I’ll find him. Now go.” 

Shaking, Felicity nodded, slowly walking backward toward the door. Taking a deep breath, she spun around and sprinted the short distance to the door. Ripping it open, she was blinded by the sun that greeted her. Being in captivity for the last few days, she had lost all track of time and didn’t realize it was even daylight out. 

“Ms. Smoak.” A gentle female voice greeted her. 

Blinking against the brightness still, Felicity managed to crack her eyes open when they finally adjusted. 

“My name is Dr. Caitlin Snow. I’m a private doctor with A.R.G.U.S. that Lyla Michaels recruited to the agency years ago. I’m here to help get you out of here and get you checked out. How does that sound?” 

Though she was a little hesitant to go with someone tied to the agency, like Dig, Felicity trusted Lyla implicitly. If she vouched for the woman in front of her, Felicity trusted that opinion. “Nice to meet you Dr. Snow.” Felicity smiled weakly. “I’d like that very much.” 

“Great.” Caitlin beamed, placing a gentle hand on her arm. “Since the agency is compromised, we need to take you to an off-site facility for the physical evaluation. I’ll be accompanying you the entire way.” She started to direct them towards a vehicle parked nearby. 

Initially she resisted Caitlin’s suggestion. “Wait-” Glancing over her shoulder at the door, Felicity’s stomach turned over nervously. When she glanced back at Caitlin, sympathy shone in the doctor’s eyes. 

“I’m sorry. Lyla gave me strict orders to get you out of here as soon as possible. It’s not safe here. Agent Queen is very capable.” She assured. 

Turning back, Felicity glanced at the door one more time before nodding. “You're right.” She mumbled softly. “Okay, let’s go.” She agreed, climbing into the back of a black SUV behind Dr. Snow. As they pulled away, Felicity watched the simple back-alley entrance fade away, just hoping that everyone and everything would be okay. 

********** 

Reaching into a box, Felicity pulled out some picture frames. The corners of her mouth turned down. Padding over to the TV, she placed the photos on a few of the large floating shelves. Stepping back, she let her gaze linger only briefly on the photo of her, Oliver, Thea, and Tommy before turning back to fetch more decorations from the box. 

It had been a week since the raid on A.R.G.U.S. After she was taken to the off-site medical facility for treatment, things happened so quickly. After treating the minor bruises she sustained around her wrists from the cuffs they had her in, some suits came in and asked her a few questions about her involvement. When they were satisfied with her answers and her promise to turn over the data she collected during her sweep of their system, she was released the same day. 

When she walked into the loft later that evening, she turned around immediately and checked herself into a hotel. Glass still lingered on the kitchen floor from the broken windows, and the smell of blood lingered in the air. It didn’t feel like home anymore. A few days later, she had filed an insurance claim, sold the place, and bought a new apartment in another part of the city, much closer to her company’s headquarters. Now, she was in the process of making it feel like home. 

Somewhere in the haze of moving, returning to work, and dealing with the fall-out of the events a week ago, Dig reached out to check on her. After telling him about the need to move and assuring him she was settling in okay, he gave her a promise to bring Lyla, baby Sara, and a house-warming dinner over to her place this weekend before he filled her in on the aftermath of their raid. 

Amanda Waller was sentenced to life-imprisonment for her involvement in the Meta Program. Lyla was named the new director of A.R.G.U.S. The imprisoned Metas were all returned safely to their families, and Lyla’s first task as Director of A.R.G.U.S. was to establish a Meta protection program with the government. Besides that, Dig was leading a special task force responsible for tracking down the top agents in Waller’s scheme that fled when the take-over occurred. Needless to say, they were busy and exhausted, but Felicity was glad to hear that their efforts to destroy the program were successful. 

At the very end of the conversation, when Felicity couldn’t take it anymore, she asked about Oliver. She needed to know whether to grieve or be angry at him since she hadn’t heard from him in the days following the bust. Turns out it was neither. He made it out safely, but Lyla had him on a special mission to hunt down Slade Wilson that was time-sensitive. Dig couldn’t say how long Oliver would be gone, but he promised he’d be all over Oliver about seeing her when he did get back. 

Pulling out some books from the box, she transported them to the office just off the living room. Since that call a few days ago, things had been quiet for Felicity. It was strange trying to return to her normal life after the whirlwind of the last two weeks. As strange as her normal life felt to her, the events of the last few weeks also seemed like a dream. The little signs all around her, like the lingering bruises on her wrists and the fact that she lived in a new apartment, helped her remember that it wasn’t a dream. 

While she was in the office straightening the books, a knock sounded at her door. Raising a brow, she padded softly out to the living room and over to the beautiful dark wood door. Lifting onto her tip toes, she peered into the peephole. Her heart started beating rapidly in her chest. With a shaky hand, she unlocked the doors and pulled it open slowly. “Hi.” 

Oliver slid his hands into his jean pockets, rocking back and forth on his feet. “Hi.” 

“What took you so long?” She asked, leaning against the door frame. 

Shrugging his shoulders, a small grin tugged at his lips. “And here I thought you’d be happy that I used your front door this time.” 

Biting her lower lip, she shrugged. “I don’t have a balcony for you to bleed all over anymore, so you didn’t have another option.” 

For a moment neither of them said anything. 

Then, Oliver stepped into her space. Sliding his arms under hers, he wrapped himself around her, tucking his face into her neck. 

Felicity hesitated for a moment, surprised by the sudden contact. Then, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her cheek into the side of his head. 

“I’m glad you’re okay, Felicity. I’m so sor-” He mumbled into her hair. 

“Hey.” She interrupted. “Don’t. I agreed to help. I knew what I was getting into, and we’re all okay.” She offered, scratching her nails in the hairs at the base of his neck. 

Oliver shook his head, stepping out of the embrace to meet her gaze. “I shouldn’t have involved you in any of this in the first place.” 

Reaching out, she placed a hand on his forearm. “You came to me that night because you trusted me. We made it through this because we trusted each other. That’s a start.” 

“I didn’t think we were going to make it...” He whispered quietly, dropping his eyes. 

“But, by some miracle, we did.” Felicity assured. 

Lifting his gaze, he shook his head. “Not some miracle. Dig told me how it all went down. It was all you.” A big smile curled his lips. “You’re remarkable, Felicity.” 

“You really need to stop saying that.” She chastised softly through a smile. 

“Or else, what?” 

Rolling her eyes, she gently shoved him. “We’re not doing that.” She teased, keeping her eyes slightly averted from his as a small blush stained her cheeks. 

Glancing over her shoulder, Oliver eyed the boxes littering her living room. “Do you want some help unpacking? Maybe we can order in, talk a little more...” He suggested shyly. 

Biting her lip, she lifted her eyes back to his. Felicity took his hand in hers and tugged him inside with a wide smile. “Yeah, I’d like that very much.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta da!!! Though there's still an epilogue after this, I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for following along on this wild ride. This fandom really is one of a kind.


	11. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW! We finally made it to the end. Thank you so much too all of you who've followed along and enjoyed this. Seeing comments and kudos for this story in my inbox always thrilled me. It's been a wild ride of a story, and after all that you finally deserve a fluffier chapter for being so patient! I hope this conclusion is satisfying and touches on the aspects of their lives outside of the little bubble Oliver and Felicity have been in since this began. Again thank you, thank you, thank you for reading!
> 
> Enjoy :)

Putting the final touches on the spread of food on the large granite island that she had ordered in for tonight, a knock came at her door, signaling the arrival of her first guests. “Coming!” She called, smoothing out the red dress with a deep v-neckline and dark floral pattern adorning the whole dress as she hopped over to open the door. “Oh, thank god. I needed your calming presence. I don’t know if I can do this.” She whispered, lunging forward and hugging Dig’s large frame. 

Awkwardly, he gave her back a quick pat before Felicity turned and gave Lyla a gentler hug around Sara, whom she held in her arms. “I’m sure it’ll be okay. Are either of them here yet?” Lyla offered as they stepped into Felicity’s apartment. 

Shutting the door behind them, Felicity shook her head as she resumed tidying little items around the room. “Nope. You guys are the first to arrive.” 

It had been a month since everything happened. Felicity was finally settled into her new place and had recently been convinced that having a proper house-warming with all her friends was a smart idea. When the idea had been proposed, Felicity jumped at the suggestion, but was now regretting the larger plan she put in place for tonight. 

“Felicity.” Dig’s soothing voice called out to her. 

Spinning around, her nervous eyes begged him for help. 

“We’ll be here to help. It won’t be easy, but this is the right thing.” He assured, wrapping an arm around Lyla as he took a seat next to her on the couch. 

Taking a deep breath, Felicity nodded. “Thank you.” She smiled, holding herself a little taller. “Can I get you guys anything to drink? Maybe a little plate of food for Sara?” 

“I’ll have a glass of red wine to start.” Lyla spoke up quickly with a grin, earning a look from Dig. Turning to see his look, she rolled her eyes. “What. It’s been a stressful week. I deserve a glass every now and again.” 

Grinning he pressed a kiss into her hair. “Absolutely.” 

“You guys are amazing.” Felicity wiped a faux tear from her eye. “One glass of red coming up for you, Lyla. Dig, I have your favorite beer here.” She moved to grab the drinks. 

Just as she handed them over to the pair, another knock sounded from the door. Crossing the living room, she swung the door open and smiled. 

“Girl, you better have a big glass of wine already poured out for me because I had the biggest fire to take care of at work today because YOU needed to leave early to set up this shindig.” Alena groaned as she embraced Felicity in a big hug. 

Wincing, Felicity sheepishly embraced her friend. “I’m sorry. I owe you one late night this week. But, in the meantime, wine is on the counter. Go pour yourself a hefty glass.” She said with a grateful smile as they separated. “But first, Alena, this is John Diggle, his wife Lyla Michaels, and their adorable little girl Sara.” She said, motioning over to the trio. 

Walking over, Alena shook hands with each of them and gave a cute little wave to Sara who grinned happily in Lyla’s arms. “It’s very nice to meet you all. I’m Alena. I’ve known this one,” she threw a thumb over her shoulder at Felicity, “since freshman year in college. Somehow, she convinced me to be COO of her company.” She joked as she meandered over to the wine. 

“You know this was your dream. Don’t deny it.” Felicity teased, sticking her tongue out at Alena just as another knock came at the door. “Get cozy, I’ll be back in a second.” She called over her shoulder as she opened the door again. 

“Lis!” Thea grinned, jumping forward to wrap Felicity up in a big hug. Stepping back, she held her friends at arm's length. “You look hot. I bet you have a cute man coming, don’t you?” Thea teased, wiggling her brows. 

Brushing a stray curl that escaped her messy up-do behind her ear, Felicity shrugged as she stepped around Thea to let her in. “What do you think of the new place?” 

Thea turned on the spot, glancing around the warm space. “It’s so much cozier than the loft, in my opinion. I still don’t know why you moved. You never told me.” She turned on Felicity. “Does it have something to do with my brother?” 

Shrugging absently, Felicity stepped forward to usher Thea over to the gathering of people in her living room. “It’s a long story...” She suggested. “I’d like you guys to meet John, Lyla, and their daughter Sara. Guys, this is Thea.” She smiled, though it was tighter than usual now. 

Thea gave a small wave to the pair. “Pleasure to meet you guys.” She smiled warmly. “How do you guys know Felicity? I’ve never heard you mention them before, and I’d like to think I know you really well.” She turned on Felicity with a curious glance. 

“Wait, that’s a good point Thea. How do you know John and Lyla, Felicity?” Alena piped up from her perch in one of the leather armchairs, taking a thoughtful sip of her wine. 

Licking her lips, Felicity glanced at Dig and Lyla. 

Dig gave her the smallest shrug and Lyla gave her a sympathetic smile. 

“We met a month ago through a mutual friend. They’ve been helping me out with some things recently and we became fast friends. The whole story is... long, and for another time.” She said vaguely as she went over to grab herself a glass of wine and some food before joining the group in the living room. 

Thankfully, after awkward introductions and some eerily accurate questions from Thea, things settled down. Wine and beer flowed among all those present, Alena shared way too many stories of college Felicity, and, at some point, Thea migrated over to the couch with John and Lyla to hold Sara. 

Finally, another knock sounded at the door, making Felicity jump up from her place on an ottoman immediately. 

“Oooo, I bet that’s her hunky new man now.” Alena teased. 

“As the first person you’ve started seeing since my brother, he better be something, Lis.” Thea called out. 

Glancing over her shoulder, Dig gave her a discrete thumbs up as she reached the door. Cracking it open, she slipped out and let it fall shut behind her to a chorus of complaints from Thea and Alena. 

“Hi.” She breathed quietly. 

Briefly, his gaze dropped to her dress before he met her eyes, his fiery gaze holding hers. “You look amazing.” He whispered back. 

A coy smile tugged at her lips. 

“How is it in there?” He asked slipping his hands into his pockets and shifting his weight on his feet. 

Wincing, Felicity gave him a nervous smile. “It’s going to be... a lot. I’m sorry. You can go, we can do this under more private circumstances...” She started to suggest. 

Quickly, Oliver shook his head. Taking a deep breath, he stared through the door behind her with a new determination. “No. I miss her. And, I’m happy to have so many people here, that way she can’t yell at me too much right now.” He tried to joke, but his laugh was stiff. 

Reaching out, she smoothed out the simple white button-up he wore that was tucked into her favorite grey slacks. Looping her arms through one of his, she tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow and tugged him toward the door. “Come on, then. I’ll be right here if you need anything.” She assured, pushing the door open and stepping back into the apartment with Oliver at her side. 

Alena, who had the most direct view of the door, promptly choked on her drink before coughing violently. “Holy shit.” 

Dig and Lyla lifted their attention to them and gave warm smiles to Oliver’s arrival. 

“Language. There’s a baby present.” Thea admonished teasingly. 

Shaking her head vigorously, Alena gawked at Oliver. “I think this is a good exception. You’re gonna want to see this.” 

“He must really be something else for you to react like-” She turned around. All emotion drained from her face. 

Gently, Lyla slipped Sara out of Thea’s arms. “Hi Oliver.” She was the first to speak, still smiling warmly and sympathetically at him. 

“Hey man.” Dig greeted. 

“Dig, Lyla, good to see you.” He smiled tightly, subtly shifting on his feet so he was little closer to Felicity. “Hey Alena, it’s been a while.” 

Sipping her wine, she raised her brows at him over the room. “You got that right. I have half a mind to kick your as-” 

“Alena.” Felicity admonished quickly. 

With a huff, Alena gave him a small smile. “If Felicity invited you and got all dressed up like that, then I guess things are fine and I need to be mad at her for not telling me. But if you screw up again-” She threatened suggestively. 

With a weak smile, he glanced down at Felicity briefly before bringing his attention back to Alena. “I hope that won’t be the case this time. Noted though.” Sliding his gaze over to Thea he paused. “Hey sis.” 

Pinching her lips together, she crossed her arms over her chest. “You’ve been gone for five years and that’s all you have to say.” She stated coolly. 

“I’m so sorry, Speedy.” He offered quietly. “I know I have a lot of work to do, but I miss my little sister.” 

Thea stared at him for a long moment before turning her gaze to Felicity. “Really?” She asked skeptically, then her mouth fell open as she turned to Dig and Lyla who offered her sheepish smiles. “Oliver’s the mutual friend. Did you re-introduce them or-” She started to piece things together. 

“It was the other way around, actually. I met them through Oliver. They’re his colleagues.” Felicity explained. “A lot has happened in the last month. Why don’t you two go talk in my office for a bit while? Oliver has a lot to tell you.” She offered, looking up at Oliver for his opinion. 

Glancing down at Felicity, Oliver nodded in response. 

“No.” Thea interrupted. “Ollie, you can’t just come waltzing in here and expect to go talk like everything is okay. You disappeared for five years without a trace. We figured you were dead.” She argued, her voice rising a little. 

Stepping forward, Felicity’s arm slipped from his as he tried to plead with his sister. “Please. Just one conversation. I know I can’t fix everything in one conversation, but I’m ready to be honest about what happened all those years ago. Then, it’s up to you.” He offered. “Regardless, I’m here to stay now, and I want to be a part of your life again... be a better big brother than I was the first time.” 

Frowning, Thea studied her brother before turning her gaze to Felicity. “So, what’s going on here?” She asked, waving a hand at the pair. 

Felicity opened and closed her mouth a few times before finally finding the words. “We, uh, haven’t really labeled it. We’re working on things too, every day.” 

“And you forgive him?” Thea pressed on, though her resolve seemed to be waning. 

“Yeah.” Smiling, Felicity met Oliver’s gaze. “We’ve been through a lot lately. We still have things to work on, I can tell things are different this time. Good-different, though.” 

Thea contemplated that answer for a long time before rising from her seat. “I missed you too, bro, but you have some explaining to do.” She suggested with a small smile. 

Grinning widely, Oliver looked back to Felicity. “Thank you.” He mouthed before turning back to Thea. “I promise, I’ll tell you everything.” He suggested as they walked down the hall to Felicity’s secluded office. 

Letting out a deep breath, Felicity walked back into the living room and collapsed on the couch next to Lyla. 

“Okay. This explains so much and so little at the same time. So, you better start explaining, right now.” Alena demanded, leaning forward in her seat expectantly. 

Glancing over at Dig, Felicity begged him for help. 

With a laugh, Dig held up his hands. “Oh no. This is your story to tell.” 

Sighing in defeat, she grinned at one of her best friends. “Well, about a month ago, I found him bleeding out on my balcony in the middle of the night...” 

* * *

Later that evening, after all the guests departed, Oliver quietly washed out the dishes in Felicity’s sink with Felicity perched on the granite island behind him. 

“You’re quiet. Everything okay?” She checked, sipping on her red wine absently. 

Shutting off the water, he turned around and leaned against the counter, toweling his hands off. “Yeah. Just thinking.” He smiled tiredly, tossing the hand towel onto the counter. “That went better than I thought it would. I worried she was going to storm out.” 

Shaking her head, Felicity smiled at him. “She’s your sister. You also can’t blame her for being mad. This is the first chance she’s gotten to express that pent-up anger at you. But she desperately misses you too.” She explained. “In the last five years, we never had a lunch or phone call where you weren’t brought up at least once... where she would wonder where you’re at, or what you’re doing.” 

Hanging his head, he scrubbed a hand down his face. “Did I screw up?” He asked, looking back up at her. 

“No.” Felicity said with confidence. “She would have reacted very differently if she truly never wanted to see you again. And that was not the Thea I saw leave tonight. It’s going to take time and effort, but you guys are family and that bond is hard to break.” 

Smiling, he pushed away from the counter. In two slow steps, he crossed the gap between them and stepped between her legs. Resting his hands on her thighs, he rubbed his thumbs over the red dress that had hiked up her legs slightly. “Thank you. For all of this.” He whispered. “So, my inside source says we’re doing better too, but that we don’t have a label yet.” 

Placing her hands on his bare forearms, she trailed them up his arms before locking her hands behind his neck with a hum of agreement. “We haven’t talked about it. We had a lot of other things to talk about first.” 

Tipping his head down, he met her gaze. “And? Now?” He asked, sliding his hands up her thighs to wrap them around her waist. 

Biting her lip, her gaze flickered away from his briefly. “What would you like to call this?” 

Lifting one hand, Oliver brushed a curl behind her ear and cupped her cheek. “I’d like the honor of calling you my girlfriend, if you’re ready for that.” He suggested with a hopeful smile. 

“You have been on your best behavior...” She teased, a giddy grin slowly curling her lips. 

Oliver raised a brow at her. 

Leaning forward, she pressed a slow kiss to his lips. “Yes.” They shared another short kiss. “I’d like that very much. Only if I can call you my boyfriend.” She said softly against his lips. 

Grinning, Oliver captured her upper lip with both of his in a long kiss. “Absolutely.” He breathed when they separated. 

“Oh!” Felicity perked up suddenly. “Since we're really doing this...” She murmured. Leaning away from his embrace, she opened a small drawer built-in to the island just to her left. From within, she retrieved a small, emerald green square box with a little ribbon stuck to the top. “Here.” She said, shoving it into his hands. 

Pausing, Oliver regarded the little box that rest in the palms of his upturned hands. “Felicity, why did you get me a gift? Did I miss something.” 

Felicity pinched her lips together with a huff. “No, silly. Just open it.” She urged, biting down on her lower lip as she watched him. 

With a confused glance at Felicity, Oliver slipped the tiny lid off and placed it on the counter. 

“It’s nothing, really. Well, not nothing. I’ve had it for some time now. I was just waiting for the right moment. If you’re not ready... I mean we only just agreed to label this a second ago, so maybe this is too soon...”  
“Felicity,” he drawled, a slow smile creeping up on his lips as he fished out the contents. “You just made me the happiest man on the planet.” He said seriously, dangling the key between them. 

“Do you know what it is? I mean, it could be a key to anything...” 

Leaning forward, Oliver stopped her next ramble by pressing a flurry of kisses to her lips. “A key to your apartment.” 

Grinning, Felicity giggled at his infectious behavior. “Our.” She corrected quietly. 

Oliver paused, leaning back infinitesimally to regard her fully. Then he captured her lips in a full kiss, smiling the whole time, unable to contain his happiness. “I love you so much.” 

Felicity inhaled sharply at the admission, leaning back to meet his gaze. 

Oliver was just as surprised as her. 

It was odd for both of them. They had spoken those words to each other multiple times before, both believing in them so fully at the time. So much had changed since the last time they said those three words to each other. They were different people now. But fate had brought them back together, challenged their history and feelings for each other, and now they were learning to love each other all over again. 

Slowly, Felicity’s surprise melted into a wide smile. Leaning forward, her nose brushed his as she pressed a soft kiss to his lips. “I love you too.” She breathed. “Now, I think a celebration is in order...” 

Grinning madly, Oliver hoisted her off the counter and started for the bedroom. “Oh, we’re definitely celebrating.”


End file.
